My Master Ed
by Blue Teller
Summary: Slave number Twenty Three didn't know what to make of his new Master. The strange boy was nothing like other slave owners. Short on both height and temper, yet strangely kind to him, Master Ed seemed to know something about him that he didn't himself. Just what was it? Time-travel fic.
1. A Name

"Twenty Three!"

A boy with long golden hair and eyes of the same color stopped sweeping. He looked up from the floor. Andal, slave number Nineteen, stood in the entrance to Master's laboratory. Unlike Twenty Three, Andal had had a name, because he wasn't born a slave. He was sold by his father at the age of seven to pay family debts. Twenty Three's mother was a slave, so by the law, he was one as well and his old Master didn't think a name was necessary.

It was a common practice among slave owners. Names didn't make slaves more hard working, or more obedient, or more eager to please their Masters, or less prone to fall ill and die. Which was all they cared about. Every slave was given a decent place to sleep, a set of clothes, a wash in the evening (Masters didn't like their slaves all dirty and smelly) and two good meals a day, but that was about it.

It didn't bother Twenty Three that much. He never had a name, so he couldn't miss it. He didn't need one to do his work. The teenager's ambitions weren't exactly high. He wanted to become a trusted slave in his Masters eyes, to get new privileges and less exhausting chores. Every slave wanted that.

Twenty Three looked at Andal, wondering why he was interrupting him in the middle of sweeping. He got this job a short while ago and barely got started.

"What is it, Nineteen?"

"It's Andal, dunderhead," Nineteen snarled. He never liked Twenty Three. The two could never get along and often got into fights when Master wasn't looking. "Master is calling you."

"W-why?" Twenty Three couldn't help but gulp nervously. He glanced at a bandage on his left arm. The last time Master called him, which was yesterday, he made a deep cut in his skin and collected his blood, saying he needed it for an experiment. But Master said he wouldn't be needing anymore. So why was he calling him again? The slave could only hope they weren't going to cut his other arm.

"A guest was asking about you. Master said to make yourself look presentable before you come."

Twenty Three blinked. A guest? Asking about him? What interest could anybody have about _him_? He was just an ordinary slave, there was nothing special about him. But he didn't question it.

Twenty Three was given a wash, a new set of clothes and even some fragrant oils. This was unusual. He couldn't remember if he ever received such treatment. Was Master's guest a rich nobleman, or perhaps the king's counselor? It would make sense. Master was a royal scientist, an alchemist, so he knew a lot of important people.

He hissed quietly when he changed the bandage. The injury wasn't deep, but it was still fresh. He hoped that Master's guest wouldn't mind it.

Finally, Twenty Three was ready and entered his Master's chamber, his eyes on the floor.

"You called me, Master?"

"Ah, Twenty Three, you're here at last."

Twenty Three dared to lift his eyes, to see who the mysterious guest was. What he saw was nothing like he had expected.

Sitting on an upholstered chair was a boy about his age, his arm and legs heedlessly crossed. He was wearing a standard Xerxesian robe, nothing fancy, one of those you can get cheap on the market. His right hand and left legs were entirely covered in bandages, not letting even a glimpse of skin show. When Twenty Three looked at him, the boy's eyes widened in recognition for a split second. The slave had no idea why. He was certain he had never seen this person.

"Great." The boy got up and shot him a slightly condescending look. Then he smirked. "You finally decided to show up."

Twenty Three felt his temper rising, but he wisely held his tongue. This boy, may have been a spoiled brat and much shorter than him, but he was Master's guest and a free man. He way, way above him.

"Are you sure you want him? I'm certain the experiment would go just as well with any other..." Master started, but the boy interrupted:

"Yeah, yeah, you told me, but I want to make sure. He looks strong enough. So, do we have a deal?"

Twenty Three was too flabbergasted at first that the boy was talking to Master with such disrespect to notice what they were talking about. Then it hit him. He was being sold… to this brat. He scowled. This was _not_ his lucky day.

When the transaction was done, the boy folded a parchment on Master's desk and put it into his robes. "I'm eager to hear how it goes with the Homunculus, Roshan. I'll see you in a couple of days."

"I can't wait to have you here again," Master said with such admiration in his voice it dazed the slave for a moment. Just who was this kid? He spoke to Master with such ease like they were on the same level. "Your input is of utmost value. With your help, I could finish my next project in just a couple of weeks instead of whole years."

Twenty Three's new Master ginned widely.

"Well, I shall be off now. Let's go, Twenty Three."

Twenty Three followed, peering curiously. The boy, or should he think 'Master' from now on, didn't dress like a nobleman, but it didn't mean he wasn't rich. He had enough money to buy a slave, which was quite expensive. His previous Master appeared to have a lot of respect for him, so perhaps he came from the royal family? The thought exited him. Being a personal servant to a snotty brat could turn out to be a pain, but a richer Master usually meant more privileges for his slaves. Maybe this wasn't such an unlucky day after all.

They were walking along the street when Master suddenly spoke.

"So… 'Twenty Three', huh?" He was looking at him with a strange expression in his gold, piercing eyes.

"Yes, Master?"

The boy winced.

"Don't call me 'Master'." An angry frown creased his smooth features. "Don't you ever call me that again."

Twenty Three got nervous. Just five minutes with his new Master and he managed to make him angry already. Not a very good start.

"Forgive me, Ma-" Fortunately he caught himself before he finished the word. "-um… sir. What should I call you, sir?"

"Call me Ed." Master closed his eyes in contemplation and hummed. "'Twenty Three'… that sucks. Who do you want to be?"

Twenty Three blinked, baffled. Was Master asking _him_ about his _opinion_?

"Is there a name you always wanted to have?" Master looked at him with open curiosity. There was no superiority in his attitude. This was so strange.

Twenty Three didn't know what to make of the question. "I don't have a name," he replied.

"I know that!" Master huffed impatiently. "That's why I'm asking you."

"I… I don't understand, Mas- sir."

Master groaned and covered his face with his bandaged right hand. He muttered something in a strange language.

"You really are hopeless, aren't you?" he said. Then he thought for a moment. "I guess that leaves us with one option, then. 'Van Hohenheim'. Is that good enough for you?"

Twenty Three looked at his Master with confusion.

"I asked you, do you like that name?" Master stated slowly.

Twenty Three really couldn't understand. Why was Master asking him that? Slave owners didn't do that. They didn't care if the slaves liked or didn't like things. Twenty Three supposed the wise thing to say right now was to agree and just leave it be, but he was just too confused to think normally right now. He didn't understand his Master at all.

"What?" he said stupidly.

"'Van Hohenheim', do you like the name?" There was exasperation in his voice. "Man, you are such an idiot."

The comment broke Twenty Three out of his stupor. _I'm not an idiot! _He thought angrily, but pressed his lips to avoid saying anything out loud. Master noticed the change in his expression.

"What?" A smirk appeared on Master's face. "Aren't you going to talk back at me, Hohenheim?"

The slave blinked twice. "That's… _my_ name?"

"Yes!" Master stopped walking and threw his hands in the air. "I've been saying that for ten minutes now! _Truth_, you're so stupid it's frustrating!"

"Me? Stupid?!" The words escaped his mouth before he could stop them. Twenty Three couldn't help if he had a temper. He was just a teenager, and so was his new Master.

"Yes you!" Master poked him in the chest with a finger of his left hand. "You're slow and a complete moron!"

Twenty Three's face reddened and pushed the hand away. "Why, you little…!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THERE AREN'T ANY CLOTHES HIS SIZE IN THE WHOLE COUNTRY?!"

The loud rant should have scared him, but it only enraged him more.

"I'm not stupid! And you're such a brat!" he shouted, then froze in fear.

He just insulted his owner face to face. Twenty Three called his Master a 'brat'. Oooh, he was so doomed. What was going to happen to him for that? Whipping? A month sleeping on the floor? Two months on bread and water only? That would be a light punishment. He should be worried about keeping his _head_.

But Master, to his extreme surprise and relief, smiled. This must have been the strangest, luckiest day of Twenty Three's life.

"Good job, Hohenheim."

The slave was confused to no end. "What did I do, sir?"

"You finally stopped acting like a pushover." Master explained happily. Then, his expression fell. He took a deep breath and started talking with a quiet, serious tone. "Listen. I know you've been a slave your whole life. I get that, and I'm sorry. That must have been hard." The sympathy in his voice caused Twenty Three to stare at him in shock. Was Master _consoling_ him? After he just insulted him? "But you're a free man now. I don't want you to act like a slave anymore, alright? Just… be yourself around me. Like you were just now. And stop calling me 'sir'. I told you my name is Ed."

Twenty Three didn't respond. He was way too dumbstruck to say anything. Master just told him that he was a free man. _I__'__m __a__… free… man?_

"I guess you need time for this to sink in." Master – no, Ed. His name was Ed. He put his hand on Twenty Three's shoulder. "Come on, Hohenheim. You want to get some food? I'm starving."

The resumed walking. Hohenheim could do nothing but wonder if he was going to wake up any moment, because this _had_ to be some bizarre dream…

But for some reason, he didn't want to wake up from it.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**I want to continue, but it depends if people want it or not. I have a good feeling about this story, but it could be a one-shot if nobody is interested. I am not abandoning my other stories, this was just a small idea I had.**

**There are some good time-traveling fics out there with Trisha, but none with Hohenheim, which is a shame. I really like him as a teenager. I want to explore his character and build a friendly relationship with Ed. Edward might hate his father for leaving, but he doesn't blame a teenager who is not only not a father yet, but a slave. There are so many possibilities in this scenario.**

**But like I said, I need your support to continue this ;) So please follow, favorite, leave reviews, comments or questions! And thank you for reading!**


	2. A Meal

Twenty Three… or rather, Van Hohenheim, as he reminded himself... was so confused.

Mast- Ed. Told him he was free from now on. But he couldn't quite wrap his head around it. The thought of not being a slave, making his own decisions… it was…

What _did_ it feel like, exactly? Hohenheim couldn't help but wonder, because honestly, he was clueless. He had never imagined being a free man before. Usually to earn something like that, slaves had to work their hardest for years, repetitively proving their loyalty, and only then – if they were lucky – would they officially be made citizens of Xerxes. But this…

He hadn't done anything to deserve this, he realized with a start. Mas- _Ed_, he only just bought him from his previous Master. Did he buy him for this sole purpose? To give him a name and free him? But _why_?

Yes, 'why' was a good question. Twenty Three (_No, my name is Van Hohenheim… right? It's going to take a while to take used to __all of __this…_) decided to focus on that for now. Why did the boy do that? What did he want from him?

It wasn't a matter of _if_ Ma- **Ed, ****he's supposed to call him Ed**! If he wanted something. What were the chances that he didn't? Right, nonexistent. Hohenheim was born and raised in slavery, and for a slave, _nothing_ was simply given. It had to be earned.

But Hohenheim was certain that he had never seen this boy before. Was it possible that he unknowingly did something in the past, that benefitted the strange rich kid? He doubted it. Even if that was the case, who for the Holy Majesty's sake would waste such a huge amount of money, just to show gratitude_ to a slave_? Not to mention to one who couldn't remember what the reward was for?

To put it simply, his head was a mess.

Hohenheim walked by the mysterious boy's side, in his state not paying any attention to where they were going. He almost bumped into him when they suddenly stopped. He hadn't noticed that they arrived at the market already.

"What's that?" Ed asked him, pointing at a woman with a cauldron. Wonderful sweet smell was filling the air. Although Hohenheim had never tried this dish – he ate only porridge most of his life – he recognized the scent immediately.

"That's pomegranate soup."

"Is it good?"

Hohenheim didn't respond. He didn't know if it was good, and making a guess was risky – what if Master ate it and didn't like it and accused him of wasting his money…?

...Oh, right. He was forgetting himself again.

Fortunately, Ed took his silence as a yes. With much enthusiasm, he walked up to the vendor and said:

"Could we have two bowls of that, please?"

Hohenheim looked at him curiously. Two? Those bowls were huge. Apparently Ed wasn't kidding when he said he was starving earlier.

The middle-aged woman smiled and filled the first bowl.

"Here you go, dear boy." When she handed another to Hohenheim, she added: "And here's one for your brother."

Both boys froze. For a second, Hohenheim was too terrified to look at the other. A member of higher society, no doubt rich and influential, mistakenly associated with a slave? Just how mad Ed was going to be? Slowly and fearfully, preparing for a big blow, Hohenheim turned his head to see Ed's reaction.

But what he witnessed, was not fury, nor incredulity as he expected. An onrush of emotion, so many and so complex Hohenheim couldn't even begin to decipher them, played across the boy's face. Ed opened his mouth to say something back to the vendor, but he closed it wordlessly. His jaw tightened.

"What's the matter, dear boy?" the vendor asked with concern.

Ed glanced at at the teen next to him with strange apprehension. Something flashed in his golden orbs, an expression Hohenheim recognized as pain. _What…? _Before he had the time to read anything else from it, Ed shut his eyes and shook his head.

"Nothing, I'm fine. How- how much?" his voice barely trembled, but it was enough for even Hohenheim to notice. He was surprised, however what baffled him more was that he hadn't scolded the woman for her assumption. He should have punished her for being disrespectful. It was fully expected from someone of his social status, wasn't it?

The vendor collected her money and gestured a wooden bench nearby.

"You can sit there while you eat. I'm going to need the bowls back, so bring them here after you're done, alright?"

"Yeah, sure… thanks." Ed hid his face behind his long bangs. Hohenheim felt a bit of relief. He wasn't being bashed out or blamed for what just happened. But the way Ed said that, and the expression he just had, was a bit worrying.

They sat down and for a moment, none of them moved. Finally, Ed lifted his head and looked at him quizzically.

"Why aren't you eating?"

Hohenheim couldn't help but stare blankly for a second.

"This is for _me_?" he asked in disbelief.

Ed smacked him on the forehead with his left hand, almost spilling his own soup. His previous mood seemed to have vanished entirely.

"Well, duh! Why do you think I asked for _two_ bowls?" Seeing how Hohenheim's shock hadn't dissipated yet, the boy snorted. "Come on, you don't think I'm that big of a jerk to eat in front of you and leave you empty handed, do you?"

Well, as a matter of fact… he did.

"What? You don't like it?" His voice was filled with exasperation. "You could have told me before, you know, then I would have gotten you something else!"

"No, I..." Hohenheim couldn't believe this. How could the boy _not_ understand his stupefaction to such unbelievable generosity? Was he faking it? "...I just… I never had pomegranate soup before."

Ed raised an eyebrow.

"Why?" He eyed the bowl suspiciously. "It wasn't that expensive."

Hohenheim pressed and rubbed two fingers agains his temple, wondering just how _oblivious_ Ed was to the differences of their social classes. Perhaps he had never owned a slave before, he considered. It would explain this bizarre and unreasonable kindness.

"Slaves don't have their own money."

Ed finally seemed to understand.

"Oh."

He said nothing more, but the way he stared at his soup with a deep frown told Hohenheim that he was thinking very hard about something. Ed nodded to himself, like he just made a decision of some sort, and drank some of the soup. An elated grin split his face.

"Mmmm!"

He started eating with speed that almost made the other laugh. Wow, the kid must have been really, really hungry! Now it was his turn.

Hohenheim inhaled some of the vapor first, savoring the amazing smell. His mouth watered in anticipation. Almost hesitating – this was too good to be for him, right? – he lifted the bowl to his lips. A loud gasp escaped him after his first swallow. This… this was... the most _delicious_ thing he had _ever_ tasted in his whole life! Instantly, he started drinking the soup with the same eagerness as his companion.

When the two of them were finished, they exchanged satisfied smiles. All of a sudden, Hohenheim felt a lot less awkward and uncertain than before. It occurred to him that he probably should say something... to show that he's grateful.

"Um, Ma- uh, I mean, si- uuuh..." he sighed at his own hopeless stuttering. Ed snickered, but didn't look offended that Hohenheim spoke without permission, which gave the teen courage to try again. "I… want to thank you. For… for the meal and… Can I ask..." he trailed off.

"What?" Ed prompted.

"Can I ask you… why?"

Ed gave him an innocent look.

"Why what?"

Hohenheim waved his hand in an indeterminate gesture.

"Why did you… do this." he finished somehow embarrassed. "I just don't understand. Why? What did I do to deserve this?"

Ed looked away with a cryptic smile.

"Because you're important… Hohenheim."

The teen stared and blinked and stared some more. _Important?_ How could _he_ be important! He didn't even have a name yesterday!

"You know..." Ed glanced at him and frowned. "Calling you that is sort of weird."

_Weird? But you named me yourself!_ Hohenheim thought, but the slave habit of keeping this kind of comments to himself was hard to kill, so he didn't say it out loud.

"How about I call you 'Van'. It suits you better, I think. Almost like a nickname. 'Hohenheim' makes it sound like you're an old man, and you're just a kid."

_Who are you calling a kid?! I bet you're younger than me!_

This boy was so strange and confusing! Not to mention irritating. Couldn't he make up his mind already?

"Got a problem, Van?"

"No," he grunted in response.

Ed smirked at Hohenheim, who felt even more vexed. The boy could see his confusion and was looking amused. The brat was enjoying this! Okay, so maybe he wasn't that bad, he just gave him the tastiest meal he ever had, but he was still infuriating. His smugness reminded the teen of Andal.

"So, Van." Ed put his chin on his bandaged fist. "What are you planning to do now?"

"Huh?" was all baffled Hohenheim, or Van, could say.

"You are free now, remember? You can go wherever you like. What are you going to do with that?"

Van was still for a moment. He hadn't even thought of that yet.

"I… I don't know..." he replied truthfully.

"Well, there are three things you could do." That got his attention. Ed lifted his left hand pointed the thumb upwards. "First. You travel east to Xing and look there for a better life."

Xing? Across the desert? But that was so far… He didn't want to leave Xerxes. Ed could tell from his expression and continued with the thumb and second finger stretched out:

"Second. You stay in Xerxes and find a job here."

That didn't sound too bad, but what he was supposed to do? He could sweep, clean, set tables and wash dishes, but that was about it. If he couldn't find a job… he would have to sell himself back into slavery, to avoid starving on the streets. In a way, that would be even worse. He'd be able to choose his Master, but he had no guarantee he wouldn't be sold to someone else, possibly a much worse owner. It's like getting out of fire right into the frying pan.

"Or third." Ed showed three fingers. "You come with me."

This proposition shouldn't have surprised him, but it did. A lot.

"Come with _you_?"

"I'm not going to force you," Ed said in a tone that made it clear he was completely serious about it. "You just met me and have no idea who I am. But if you come with me, I can promise you will be safe and have a place to stay. And I could come up with a thing or two for you to do, in case you don't find a job."

This offer… it… didn't make any sense!

"Why set me free, if you want me to work for you?" Van asked, bewildered and suspicious.

Ed shrugged.

"I don't know, company, maybe?" Seeing that the teen wasn't buying it, the boy sent him a cheeky grin. "Well, that's for me to know and for you to think about."

He was teasing him! Van scowled in annoyance at Ed and finally dared to ask him outright:

"What is it with you? What do you want? Why are you doing this?"

"What, am I not allowed to be nice to people?" the boy asked in mock surprise.

"'Nice'?!" Van repeated incredulously. "Spending a talent* of gold for a slave and freeing him the same day for _no _reason? That's not being 'nice', that's _insane_."

The corner of Ed's mouth twitched upwards. For a moment the boy struggled to remain expressionless, but it quickly failed, and he burst into laughter.

"Hey!" Van Hohenheim exclaimed. The boy continued laughing so loud some people on the market started looking around. Van stood up, his cheeks reddening. "Stop that!" he hissed.

"Sorry, Van, it's just… your face was so priceless!" Ed giggled, holding his stomach. "Wow, I had no idea messing with you would be this fun!"

Messing with him?! Hohenheim wanted to punch him so badly right now. Maybe even more than Andal. Ed was confusing him on purpose! Was that the only reason why he did those things for him? Just to see his reaction?

"Aaah, that was so good." Ed wiped tears of laughter away. Then he grinned in such an honest way, Van couldn't stay mad at him anymore. This kid was infuriating, short, annoyingly mysterious and possibly crazy, but… he wasn't that bad. He got this intriguing vibe around him, not to mention was extraordinarily generous. Van thought it could be worth it to stick around him after all. "I haven't had a good laugh in..." Ed's face fell for a moment, but he forced back a smile. "...a while. Thanks Van."

"You're welcome," Hohenheim answered sarcastically. He didn't like being Ed's source of entertainment, but as long as it didn't involve violence towards him (many slave owners had an 'interesting' sense of humor) it was endurable.

They brought the empty bowls back to the vendor. The woman looked at Ed with a hint of nervousness.

"I apologize."

"For what?" Ed was clearly surprised.

"For assuming you two were related. I heard what you were talking about. I had no idea this boy is your freedman… I'm sorry."

Ed blinked at her and looked at Van, then turned back to the vendor.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," the boy said softly, albeit sounding confused. "It was a natural assumption. We're around the same age and look a bit similar. You don't have to apologize just because you thought he was my brother." The last word was said with subtle sadness.

The woman regarded him, and a gentle smile blossomed on her face.

"What's your name, dear boy?"

"I'm Ed."

"You are an amazing young man, Ed," she told him. "I hope more people of your generation grow up to be as selfless as you are."

"Oh. Um, thanks…?" he rubbed the back of his neck, a pink hue coloring his cheeks. Van smirked, thinking it was good to know the boy could get embarrassed this easily. It'd be helpful while getting back on Ed for messing with him. But that could wait for later.

* * *

"So," Ed spoke after they departed from the market. "What's your decision?"

Hohenheim contemplated for a moment.

"I really don't understand why your doing this," he started. "But… I guess I'll go with you. I don't want to leave Xerxes. And finding a job on my own would be very hard, I'd be better off as a slave. I don't have anywhere else to go."

"Alright!" Ed patted him on his shoulder with his right hand. Even through the bandages, it felt strangely hot and stiff. "Let's get going then."

"Where?"

"To my house, doofus." The boy rolled his eyes. "It's really unbelievable how thick-headed you are."

Van glowered at him.

"That's not true! I'm plenty smart!" he retorted. Suddenly he remembered how Ed acted when he thought he called him little earlier. He smirked evilly. "And a lot taller than you, kid!"

Ed glared back.

"Are you implying that I'm _short_?"

"Short? Please," Hohenheim scoffed. "That's way too generous. You barely qualify as a midget."

He watched with satisfaction as Ed's entire face became red like a beet.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A MICROSCOPIC INCONSIDERABLE UNDERSIZED TRIFLING PATHETIC INSIGNIFICANT-"

Van had no idea so many words similar to 'short' existed in Xerxesian vocabulary. It took Ed quite a while to list them all. By the time he was done, everybody in the proximity of five miles was looking in their direction.

"-TINY LITTLE BEANSRPOUT!" he eventually finished, completely out of breath. Honestly, Hohenheim was impressed he was able to keep going for so long. This kid sure had one pair of strong lungs.

But, despite being half-deaf by that point, Van Hohenheim thought it was totally worth it.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**It's been a week since I've updated my stories, but no worries, I'm not dead! But life is sort of important, you know, so there was nothing I could do. I'll do my best in the future.**

**Thank you, thank you, thank you for your reviews! :D I'm so glad you people like this story! I have a plan for it, and I hope you're going to like it. I know you're curious, but you'll have to wait a chapter or two for Ed's perspective to find out what happened and how he got into the past. It's going to be quite important (I don't like those king of stories where somebody ends up time-traveling "just because". Either think things through and all the way or don't try at all – that's my motto!), you'll see. If you're confused by lack of hostility toward's his father, it will be explained in future chapters.**

**Oh, pomegranate soup is a real thing. I assume Xerxes is based of Persian culture because of the architecture. The dish is Persian and I heard it's very good.**

*** - a gold talent equals approximately ****50 kg, which is 110 lbs**

**One again, thank you so much! Please leave reviews, favorite and follow, and most importantly: read on and enjoy! :)**


	3. A Teacher

Ed was a bit grumpy for the rest of their walk. He _really_ didn't like being called short, apparently, thought newly liberated former slave Twenty Three as he rubbed his still hurting ears. But it was so hard to resist making fun of him. It wasn't because the boy was really that small – Ed was pretty average in height – but his reactions were just too entertaining. Van wished it had been that easy to rile up Andal. His life would have been so much more fulfilling the last couple of years.

This made him slow down a little, as he started pondering what his life was going to be like from now on. It hadn't fully hit him yet that he was a free man. It still felt too surreal, like a dream that was going to disappear as soon as he went to sleep. Falling asleep in a dream meant awaking in the real world, didn't it? In the morning he wouldn't be 'Van Hohenheim' anymore, and Ed would be gone like a figment of his imagination…

Well, even if it was true, then he was going to enjoy his time dreaming and make the best of it.

"Here we are."

Van looked up to see Ed's home. It was surprisingly… ordinary. The building wasn't as tiny as a lower-class citizen's, but it wasn't big enough to belong to a nobleman. The structure didn't stand out in any way; the roof was flat, the walls were made of sand-colored stone and the windows were square-shaped. It looked like a solid house with a common Xerxesian design, that blended in well with others on the street. The teenager was rather surprised. Surely it couldn't be Ed's home? If he had enough money to buy (and free) a slave, shouldn't he be living in more luxury than this? It wasn't bad, Hohenheim certainly couldn't be picky as he never owned anything himself, but it made a plain impression.

Van turned to Ed with a quizzical expression.

"Your family lives here?" he asked.

Ed's shoulders instantly tensed. Van got uncomfortable. What had he done wrong now? Master – _no, he's not your Master, remember?_ – hadn't reacted like this before when he asked questions, so he assumed he was allowed to speak freely… wasn't he? Or was he expected to stay quiet from now on, since he was about to be accepted into Ed's household?

The boy's answer dashed his worries, although it didn't exactly made him feel better.

"I don't have family anymore."

Oh. So that's why… _Oooh_. It explained so much. The way he reacted when the vendor assumed they were related. He wasn't angry back then, he was sad. Or why Ed looked so rigid all of a sudden. He must have lost this family in a tragic way… Van felt so stupid, ignorantly bringing up such a painful topic.

Wait a second… something didn't make sense here.

"But you're a kid, aren't you? Surely you have someone to take care of you?"

"No, I do not," Ed responded stiffly, not looking at him. "It is just me."

"Um..." This was so awkward.

Ed took a deep breath and sighed.

"You're going to ask sooner or later, so I might as well tell you now." He paused, apparently thinking of a way to make explain without giving away too many painful details. "I came to Xerxes all by myself. There aren't any of my relatives left. My mother died when I was young. My younger brother..." Ed had to stop to lick his lip nervously. "...something bad happened to him."

"And your father?"

Ed's hands turned into fists. The knuckles on his left hand became white.

"He left." His voice was hard.

"I'm sorry."

"_Sure_ you are!" Ed suddenly spat. Van flinched, taken aback by his hostility. The boy glared angrily at him and the teen felt like disappearing into the ground. He pushed the boundaries too hard, he should never had said anything, why couldn't he keep his mouth shut…

Ed noticed his frightened expression and his eyes softened. He rubbed his forehead and sighed again.

"Sorry, Van. I shouldn't be taking this out on you. I just… really don't like talking about it. It's..." he struggled for the right word. "It's complicated."

Van thought this one word was a perfect description of this odd boy. For the short time they had spent together, Ed presented the strangest collection of traits. He had a temper and was impatient, but also kind and generous. He had money, yet no family to share it with. Sometimes he acted like a friend, as if he knew Van already, but at the same time kept glancing at him as if he was something alien and intriguing. Indeed, Ed was very complicated.

"Shall we go in?" the boy finally suggested, interrupting the uncomfortable silence.

Van nodded. Ed opened the door and invited him in with a flourish gesture.

"Ladies first?" he joked to ease the atmosphere. Van bristled.

"Who are you calling a girl?!"

Ed chuckled.

The inside of the house was… chaotic. Hohenheim stood in place for a moment, baffled. If this wasn't evidence that Ed didn't own any other slaves, he didn't know what was. Everyday-use objects were laying around on the floors and on the tables, cloth and shoes were thrown around in disarray. Most shoes weren't even Ed's size. There were also so female accessories in the mess for some reason.

"I bought this house, with everything in, from a certain family about a week ago," Ed said, amused with his bewildered expression. "I gave them a cart of gold for it. You should have seen them bunk! They looked like they made a deal of a lifetime, they were so happy they didn't even want to take anything with them."

It did explain the condition of the house. But Van ignored that for now, as another detail struck him. His jaw fell open.

"_A cart of gold?!_" he gaped.

"Yup. It's such a useful thing that gold is so valuable in Xerxes." Ed shrugged. He turned to him with a knowing look. "Ah, you're probably thinking that I'm a _spendthrift rich_ _guy_ or something. Am I right?"

Van blinked. "...Are you?"

Ed laughed. There was something really likable about that sound. Van definitely liked it more when he joked and laughed than he was sad and in pain. He promised himself that from now on he'd try to make Ed smile more.

The boy stood in front of a table and waved and him to get closer. Ed pulled something out of his pocket and placed it on the cracked, wooden surface. Van looked at it with interest. It was just a piece of light-colored rock, one anybody could find on the street.

"What do you know about alchemy, Van Hohenheim?" Ed asked with unusual formality, scrutinizing it.

Van shrugged. "My previous Master is a royal alchemist, but I haven't seen him work. I only cleaned his laboratory… and..." His right hand enclosed the left forearm. "...he took some of my blood recently for an experiment, but I don't know anything about it."

Ed grabbed his arm without warning and pulled up the sleeve. With surprising gentleness, he unwrapped the bandage and critically examined the wound beneath.

"That's disgusting." He didn't seem to be referring to the injury. Suddenly there was burning anger in his eyes. "I already knew about it, sure, but to actually see it… That's so sick." He looked at Van with sympathy. "Did it hurt?"

Van was quite shocked to see somebody so concerned about his well-being. Why did Ed care so much?

"A little," he admitted but quickly added: "It wasn't too bad. It stung for a while, but it feels alright, now that I had it cleaned and all."

Ed hummed, swiftly put the bandage back on and released the arm.

"Normal alchemy doesn't require human blood," the boy told Van. There was thick disapproval in his tone. "Treating human beings like lab animals, that's just wrong. I made Roshan believe I wanted you for the same experiment, but I would never to that to another person." His eyes narrowed and brow furrowed in unshakable conviction. "A human is a human and deserves to be treated as such. No matter if he's a slave or not. You understand?"

Hohenheim gulped and nodded. When Ed got like that, he was surprisingly intimidating. The boy smirked at his nervousness.

"Don't look so scared, Van. I just told you I'm not going to hurt you."

"A-alright," the teen said shakily. There was something incredibly powerful about the way he spoke about experiments and alchemy, and most of all, about his former Master. Van never dared to think or say a single bad thing about Roshan, fearful respect for slave owners was being hammered into his brain since early infancy. He had suspected Ed being more lenient than that, so he allowed himself to call him infuriating and a brat, but it was also due to the fact that the kid was (possibly) younger than him, which irritated him. Being ordered around by a snotty rich-boy was not a promising perspective, after all.

Now, Ed was crashing his entire worldview of authority's infallibility and respect, telling him that what Roshan had done to him was wrong and that he should be treated like a person, regardless of his social status. He had no idea where Ed got such radical opinions, but it was shocking to hear to say the least.

"Now, back to alchemy." Ed snapped him out of his stupor. "Could you tell me what it is?"

"Huh?"

"I mean in general. Anything."

"It's… um..." Van scratched his head. "A science, I guess?"

Ed deadpanned at him.

"Really. That's all you know?"

"Uh..."

"Wow." The boy shook his head in disbelief. "You have no idea how ironic this is. Anyway," he didn't give Van any time to think about what he meant by that. "Alchemy is a science of understanding, deconstructing and reconstructing matter. Its main principle is 'Equivalent Exchange'. Humankind can't gain anything without giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. This is the first and most important law of alchemy. You got it?"

Van stared at him with wide eyes. He hadn't got the slightest clue what Ed just said.

Ed huffed impatiently.

"Whatever. I might as well show you. You see this pebble, right?" Ed pulled out a stick of chalk and started drawing a circle around it. Then he started filling it with complicated shapes and symbols with jaw-dropping speed. "It has a certain weight. With alchemy, I can turn it into something else, but the weight will have to remain the same. I can't make something out of nothing, or make something disappear." When he was done, the boy put his fingers on the pattern of the circle. Suddenly, it began to glow.

Van Hohenheim jumped backwards, terrified with the incredible display. He hadn't imagined alchemy to be so… grand, beautiful and _frightening_, the power of the reaction was cracking and illuminating the dark room with blue light, which looked like lightning on a stormy sky. It lasted barely ten seconds, but in Van's mind it was the most intense experience he ever had in his life. He hadn't noticed he stopped breathing, until he gasped loudly, as he saw what came out of that indescribable process.

Where previously was a light-colored rock, now lied a small lump. It was some kind of metal, shiny and yellow in color, similar to Xerxesian eyes and hair. Even an uneducated slave like him knew what it was. He would have never believed it unless he saw it with his own eyes.

Ed turned stone into gold.

Van's knees crashed on the floor. His entire body was trembling.

"Van? You okay?"

The teen didn't respond, his vocal chords were frozen and he didn't know what to do. This… "**boy**"… who _was_ he really? Nobody knew how to create gold*! The man who possessing this ability would become the most powerful ruler on earth! Was Ed even _human_? Perhaps he was a god in disguise? It would explain his strangeness and otherwordly behavior, as well as his power… Oh gods, and he had insulted him and joked with him and even _made fun of his height…_ Hohenheim, fearing for his life, fell flat with his face the ground.

"Hey!_ Van!_ Are you alright?! Come on, don't pass out!" something grabbed his shoulder and shook it. "Argh, what have you done, Ed you idiot! Wake up, Van!"

He wanted to obey, but his legs felt too weak and his mind was reeling in shock. Van heard someone sigh and suddenly he was being lifted from the ground.

"Come on, kid. If you have to to rest, don't do it on the floor," the voice told him with kindness he had never witnessed being directed at him. For a blissful moment, Van Hohenheim forgot who or where he was as his mind slipped into the world of darkness.

* * *

When he woke up, the sun was already near setting and the light turned orange, the warm rays falling in through a large square window. Van groaned and sit up, grabbing his head. He still felt a little dizzy, although it took him a while to remember what happened. Oh yeah, he saw Ed perform alchemy and he panicked. Wow, that was _really_ pathetic. He'd thought he had more guts than that.

Still, his mind was filled confusion and wonder and he couldn't stop thinking about Ed. How did he do that? The alchemic display shocked Van, but it was its product that caused him to lose it. Even his old Master couldn't turn stone into gold! If he could, he would be living in a much bigger house and owning much more slaves… or, maybe he'd be ruling Xerxes himself. Did that mean Ed was a more powerful alchemist than Roshan? Apparently, but he was just a kid, wasn't he? Wasn't the power of creating gold attributed to the mightiest of gods? Where could he have learn that?

Suddenly, Van remembered when he was called to Master Roshan's chamber, where he first saw Ed. Roshan spoke with admiration and respect which made Hohenheim believe he must have been a nobleman or royalty, but perhaps he had been mistaken. Maybe he had seen Ed's power and wanted to learn in order to please His Royal Majesty? It made sense, along with his dismissal of Ed's casual, almost rude attitude, which had left the slave flabbergasted. No wonder Ed appeared to him to be an over-confident brat, although it seemed Ed truly deserved such respect in every aspect, even if he didn't care about it in the slightest.

Van got up from the bed and looked around the room… _his_ room, it occurred to him. He and Ed were the only people living in this house, and there wasn't any evidence that Ed used this room in any way, which meant the whole space belonged to Hohenheim. It was strange to be by himself, not hearing other slave's snores or having Andal picking him in his sleep. It felt… lonely.

He started quietly wandering around the house, curious where Ed had disappeared to, but reluctant to call him. After ten-minute search he finally found the boy, sitting in front of a desk full of papers with a couple of candles burning with flickering light.

Ed had changed clothes since the last time he'd seen him, and he looked different. Very different, in fact. Van had never seen such dressing style, before, not even on Xingnese traders. He wore something that looked like a bright red robe with a black symbol painted on it. However it was split in front, and underneath he had black clothing shining like water, looking strangely tight on the body. His arms were hidden, but not in bandages, but in white slim hand-shaped cloth-sacks. But the weirdest where the black shoes he wore instead of sandals; they covered his entire feet and ankles and had a very thick sole, which was partly red too. Van had no idea if this was to be considered fancy or not, but he had to wonder if Ed wasn't boiling in this outfit. It was the middle of the summer after all.

He stood and gawked at him in the entrance until Ed's humorous voice reached his ears:

"Are you going to come in or what?"

Van jumped in surprise and his cheeks colored in embarrassment when Ed turned and gave him a mocking grin.

"Feeling better?" Van nodded. "Good. You scared me, kid, you were out for so long I thought you died of a heart attack or something."

He winced. Ed was teasing him again. It _still_ was incredibly annoying, but at the same time, there was some bizarre relief to it, and a bit of shame, because he sure deserved mockery after over-reacting to alchemy like that.

"Sorry." Van tugged his ponytail nervously. "I, uh… that was… stupid."

"You bet." Ed stood up and patted him on the shoulder in a patronizingly-parental manner. Which was pretty funny, seeing as Hohenheim's eye-level was above the tip of the boy's head. "If I had known you'd act like such a sissy, I wouldn't have bothered showing you that trick."

Van's face got even redder, this time also with anger.

"H-hey, I'm _not_ a sissy! Look, I was just surprised!" he defended himself. "I've never seen something like that before, and..." he trailed off. Ed raised an eyebrow.

"What? Spill it out!"

"How… How did you create gold, Ed?" he asked hesitantly, using his name for the first time.

"_With a__lchemy_. I thought you paid attention."

"I know, but- but that's impossible!"

"Why is it impossible?" Ed sounded amused.

"Because… because only _gods_ can do things like that!" He finally threw it out. "You're not a _god_, are you?"

Ed's expression fell. He covered his face with his white-clothed hands and moaned. "Nooooo, not _you_ too!"

Van blinked.

"What do you mean, 'not me too'?"

"There was this couple a while ago whom I showed making gold," the boy explained wearily, sounding very irritated nevertheless. "They freaked out, and it was so much worse than what you did. They started bowing and begging me for mercy like I was a demon or something. It was so annoying." Suddenly, Ed grabbed him by the neckline edge of his robe and pulled him down, to have their faces on the same lever. He glared and threatened: "If you ever try to do that I swear I _will_ turn into a demon and knock your teeth out."

Van didn't know if to take him seriously or not, since it seemed kind of backwards. If showing respect wasn't what Ed wanted from him, then what _did_ he want, exactly?

"Okay, I won't bow if you don't want me to," Van chocked out, baffled.

"Good," a smirk appeared on Ed's face and he let him go.

"C-can I ask you something?"

"Only if you wipe that floppy look from your face."

"Right." Van stood straight and made an effort to look as calm and confident as possible. Ed gave him a nod of approval. When had this kid started acting like a mentor to him or something? It felt so weird. "Could you show me some alchemy again?"

Ed snorted. "What, wanna pass out one more time?"

"I won't pass out!" Van insisted. "Listen, I was unprepared the last time! Now I know what to expect and it won't affect me anymore!"

"Why do you want to see it again?" Ed asked, curiously this time.

"Because…" Van deeply thought about it. Why? Plenty of reasons, honestly. One, it was fascinating. Alchemy was like a glimpse of something new, an unknown world, which was pretty ironic, considering that he lived and worked for an alchemist most of his life, but he had never been interested in learning more about his Master's science before. Two, he was curious about Ed, his history and abilities, he really wanted to know more about him. But, the most honest answer would be: "Because… it felt like **freedom**."

This was not what Ed had been expecting, apparently, because he recoiled and looked at Van incredulously.

"_What?_"

"It felt like freedom," he repeated, seriously. "I didn't know what it felt like before. When you told me I'm a free man this morning… I didn't really know what to think of it," he confessed. "I don't understand what it means, what is it like, what is expected of a free man or if it's better for me. But… when I saw that light, it was like seeing all those possibilities, dreams I never had because I was not allowed to..." Van swallowed. He was speaking from his heart but it sounded awkward in his own ears. He hoped Ed wouldn't see it the same way. "If I learned more about alchemy, maybe… maybe I could get to know… me… I don't know. Does it make sense?"

For a long moment, there was no response. Ed watched him with a blank expression, it was impossible for Van to figure out what could possibly be going on in his head. Then finally, Ed hastily stepped forward. Van made a conscious effort not to back away, but it soon turned out he had no intention of attacking him.

"Van Hohenheim!" Ed stood straight, suddenly much taller than before. Perhaps it were just the shoes, perhaps something more. Ed's golden eyes, filled with some sort of mystical fire, burned into his own. "I, Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, swear to teach you and make you a **real alchemist**, if it's the last thing I do!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Some of you might consider this behavior out of character for Hohenheim, after all he had this cool attitude when he met the Homunculus for the first time and he's Ed's dad so he should be fearless and everything, right? Well, it was a culmination of all the things that happened to him that day. He fainted not just because Ed broke several of his fundamental Xerxesians beliefs, but also because he had a quite stressful, really weird day. If you still think I overdid it and it's too much OOC, I apologize.**

**In Xerxes, people believed in many different gods, just like the Greeks or Mesopotamians. Remember that in Liore, people thought Cornello was a messenger from a sun god even though alchemy was much more well-known, so Van considering if Ed was some sort god isn't farfetched at all.**

*** - in my head-cannon transmutation of gold was invented in Amestris about two or three hundreds years later and then was made illegal. In Xerxes in 13th century, alchemy only began to develop. It progressed with the Homunculus' and Hohenheim's help _after_ Xerxes downfall.**

**Thank you for reading, please review, read on and enjoy! :D**


	4. A Lesson

"Sa...ey…?"

"Again."

"Seney."

"No. _Sensei_."

"Sen-sen?"

"_Sen_. _Sei_."

"Sa Say?"

"AAAAAARGH! How hard can it be to pronounce _one simple word_, you colossal idiot?!"

"Who are you calling an idiot, **shorty**?!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PATHETIC LITTLE RUNT SMALLER THAN A GRAIN OF SAND DIVIDED BY A THOUSAND?!"

Lesson number one. Call Edward Elric any variance of the words 'small', 'little' or 'short' and expect a colorful rant of the vertically-challenged alchemist – which Van found very amusing.

Lesson number two. Apparently, it was tradition for an apprentice to refer to his alchemy master as "Teacher". Which was, in Ed's language, a strange two-syllable word that Hohenheim just _couldn't_ say, no matter how much he tried. Sufficient it is to say that Edward was getting mildly exasperated.

Van had been quite surprised to find out that Ed wasn't from Xerxes. He blended in perfectly, he didn't have exotic features like people from Xing, and his foreign accent was almost untraceable. Although, Hohenheim probably should have considered this possibility eariler, when Ed muttered in a strange language to himself from time to time.

It was great to finally get to know the mysterious boy's full name. From the beginning Van thought that "Ed" was too… _simple_ of a name for someone like him. Van couldn't describe it, but there was just _something_ about the way Edward Elric carried himself and his presence, he had to have some sort of title.

The first thing Hohenheim asked was why Ed was called "Fullmetal Alchemist". To this question, the response was:

"Most alchemists specialize in a specific field of alchemy. There are so many sub-subjects and branches, it's almost impossible to learn them all. I specialize in metal transmutations, like I showed you earlier."

"Will I get a title too?" Van asked eagerly. "I mean, after I learn and everything..."

"Only if you want to," Ed told him with a smirk.

"Do I chose it myself, or you give me one?"

"Huh." Edward pondered with a finger on his chin. "I have no idea. I didn't chose mine, but you..." He shrugged. "I guess we'll figure it out later. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. You have yet to learn the basics of alchemy, leave names and titles for later to worry about."

He had a point. Van couldn't even handle saying the word Ed was struggling to teach him.

"I give up." Hohenheim threw his arms in the air. "I'm just going to call you 'Master'."

Ed crossed his arms and scowled. "No way in hell. I refuse."

"Why?"

"Because I don't like it!"

"Why is that, Master?" Van grinned teasingly.

"_Stop_ calling me that, my name is _Ed_!"

"Alright, why is that, **Master Ed**?"

"Quit it!" Edward growled. The other laughed.

"Just tell me why."

"I feels wrong, alright?"

"Why?"

"Because, you're not a _slave_, got it? And _I_ definitely do not owe you." He seemed disgusted for some reason.

"You _are_ going to be my teacher, so I don't have to be your slave to call you that," Van pointed out. "You told me that 'Se'… um… _whatever_ means the same thing."

"No. 'Sensei' means someone you obey and listen to because they deserve it, either because of their skill, knowledge or age. 'Master' refers to someone who has power over you, but it doesn't guarantee respect."

"That's not true! All slaves respect their Masters," Van protested, slightly offended.

"Did _you_?"

"Well, of course I did!"

"You respected Roshan even after what he did to you?" Ed gave the bandage on the teen's arm a meaningful look.

"Um… well, yes..." Van put his hand over his injury, sounding a little uncertain.

"How can you?"

"It wasn't a big deal… Just a cut."

Something in Ed's expression darkened.

"He hurt you for a selfish reason and didn't ask you for permission."

"Permission? He was my Master," the teen replied, baffled.

"See? This is exactly what I'm talking about!" Ed exclaimed angrily, then sighed. "Such blind obedience."

Hohenheim fell silent, looking at Edward with a look of a lost child.

"Do you truly believe he had any right to do that to you, Van?" Ed's golden eyes pierced straight though him, making his very soul shiver from the intensity of his gaze. "Do you really think that you deserve such treatment? That _anyone_ does? Do you think people should treat each other like objects?"

Van was speechless. He couldn't move or look away.

"I think I'm starting to understand," Ed's voice got quiet. "It seems freedom is something I cannot give to you, not by myself..."

"W-what do you mean?" Van finally stuttered. He was yet again completely confused.

Edward stood up from his chair and turned to the window. The sun had disappeared a long time ago, and stars glimmered brightly on the black, cloudless sky. The boy stared at them for a moment, thoughtful, like he had forgotten he wasn't alone.

"Um, Ed?" Van spoke up hesitantly. Slowly, Ed turned.

"It's late," he said softly. "You must be tired. You should go to bed."

"What about you?" Van had to ask. Somehow, he could tell Edward wasn't going to sleep anytime soon.

"I have more important things to do," Ed dismissed him. He had an unreadable expression on his face, but it made the teen sad for some reason.

Van obeyed and left the room immediately. Only after he got into his (own!) bed, it occurred to him that this was what Ed could have meant by 'blind obedience'. He could have stayed, asked Ed what was wrong and why he didn't want to sleep, but instead, he just did what he was told.

There was so much on his mind he doubted he could fall asleep. When he got up this morning, he never would have believed his day would turn out like this. He was sold, bought, named and freed, received the most delicious meal ever, got his own room, all in one day! But what made the greatest impact on him was Edward Elric himself.

He couldn't think of him simply as his Master – regardless if he would eventually call him that or not, which hadn't really been decided – or even a boy or a brat. Van couldn't compare him to anybody else in his life. Ed wasn't just any person. He didn't want him to be his slave, yet he invited him into his life. He accepted him into his house, gave him things without asking anything in return, offered to teach him. Even if Ed irritated the teen at times, with his teasing remarks about his intelligence or those all-knowing smirks, Van didn't disliked him like Andal. But he didn't fear him like Roshan, either – quite the opposite, actually... He felt gratitude and respect, he supposed, but there was something else.

Eventually Van did figure it out, and what he found was quite surprising. He discover that, for some unspeakable reason, he **trusted Edward**.

Yes, he trusted him. A stranger, a mere boy with frightening power with mysterious personality, had gained him complete trust. How could it be? Why would he he trust Ed so much? He didn't know him at all...

His eyelids slowly began to close, the excitement of the day catching up to him. Oh well, thought the sleepy teenager. He could think about it in the morning.

* * *

That night, he had a very strange dream.

He dreamed that he was standing in the desert. Suddenly, he noticed people on the horizon – all familiar faces. Master Roshan, Andal, little Karim, Ten, Zand, Laleh, Fourteen and other fellow slaves, all looking at him and waiting for him. He was about to follow them, when he noticed somebody right standing next to him: a short figure with a right hand and left leg covered in bandages.

"Come with me," the stranger said.

"Twenty Three, what are you waiting for?" Master called him angrily. "Get over here at once!"

"Don't listen to them," the figure came closer. "Follow me."

"Twenty Three, how dare you disobey your Master!"

He looked between the two sides, torn. What should he do? Should he go with the stranger, or should he listen to his Master? What should he do?!

"Twenty Three!"

"Don't listen-"

"If you don't come this instance, you will regret it!"

"Don't go with them!"

"Your last warning, Twenty Three! What will you do?"

"I don't know!" he wailed, grabbing his head. "I don't know what to do!"

"How do you expect to become an alchemist, if you can't even decide on your own?" the stranger asked him with contempt.

The sky darkened with clouds and the rain started falling. Water was raising quickly, first it reached his ankles, then knees, then chest, it washed away everything, the sand, the people…

"No, wait!" he screamed, reaching out, but couldn't hold onto anything.

"It's your own fault, you know," a voice rang in his ears. "You couldn't make a decision. You've lost your chance."

A bolt of blue lighting appeared in the sky with a rumble and dazed him…

...Van awoke with a startled gasp.

That dream was so _freaky_. He hadn't have a nightmare in a long while. The last time it was something so ridiculous it was almost funny – he dreamed he was sweeping but every time he cleaned the floor, it was getting more and more dusty. But this, it was downright creepy. He was so scared that he'd drown, that he would be separated from everyone…

_How do you expect to become an alchemist, if you can't even decide on your own?_

He winced, remembering the tone Ed spoke with in his dream. It didn't sound anything like him in the real life – it was so cold and rejecting. It shouldn't bother him, but it did. It really did.

_Am I really unable to make my own decisions?_

Van stepped away from his bed and only now noticed something. The sun was up and high. He slept through almost the entire morning! How come no one woke him up to make him do his chores...? He almost slapped himself at the thought. Of _course_ nobody woke him up, he wasn't living in Roshan's mansion anymore! And he didn't have any chores for now, at least not yet.

Sooo… what _should_ he do then? He blinked, suddenly understanding that without someone else giving him orders, he truly didn't know what to do with himself. It was a somewhat startling realization.

His pondering was interrupted by a loud sound, coming from his hungry stomach. The noise reminded him it was probably past time for breakfast. With unfamiliar excitement, he wondered what he and Ed would get to eat today. He knew he better not get his hopes up, the pomegranate soup was probably only a celebration meal, but maybe, just maybe...

Van knocked at the door of Edward's room.

"Come in!" came a tired voice.

Van frowned and entered. He was greeted by the same sight as yesterday. Ed was sitting at his desk, which was covered in even more papers. The candle was burned out.

"Good morning, Mas- eh, sorry..." Van rubbed his neck sheepishly. Ed smiled at him, bur it didn't quite meet his eyes. They were glassy and red. It could be just because of too much reading. However, Hohenheim had an inkling there was an entirely different reason for it. "Um, you weren't awake the whole night, were you?"

Ed shrugged indifferently and stood up. "Doesn't matter."

Only now Van noticed that he was back in his Xerxesian robe. His eyes unconsciously fixed on the bandages on his two limbs. Just like in his dream… The way they were so tightly wrapped and revealed not a glimpse of skin made him wonder.

"Can I… ask something?" he said tentatively.

"You just did," Ed smirked.

"Oh, right."

"What is it, Van?"

"Are your arm and leg alright?" he asked with honest concern. "You aren't badly hurt, are you?"

"Ah, these? Nah," Ed acted so at ease it made Van sigh in relief. "I just have some scars and I don't like people gaping at them, that's all."

Van blinked. Scars? Who covers scars with bandages? Isn't it uncomfortable after a while? Well, unless it looked really terrible… He was tempted to ask what happened, but he respected Ed's privacy. If he wanted Van to know, he would have showed him already.

"Are you hungry, Van?"

The teen nodded.

"Good. I'm starving! Let's go get some food!"

Ed immediately looked more lively. As they left the house, he complained about the heat in a good-natured way. The two of them bickered a bit. Ed challenged his intellect again, Van in turn insulted his hight, and got rewarded with a threat of a fist in the face. They were both in good mood, but Hohenheim couldn't stop thinking about the reason why Edward's eyes were so red when he entered his room. He… he hadn't _cried_, had he?

It was difficult to imagine. The alchemist acted so tough, and even with his tempter, he appeared to be mature and wise beyond his years. But before Van left to go to bed, Ed looked so… He didn't know what to call it. That look in his eyes was an emotion Hohenheim had no experience with. Van used to comfort little Karim when the child sometimes, but the neighbor kid only cried when he got hurt, like the time he tripped and scratched his knee. That expression Ed wore on his face yesterday wasn't hurt nor ordinary sadness. So why would he cry?

Van didn't see any reason why someone like Edward would feel the need to cry. From his perspective, Ed had so much – talent, confidence, knowledge, skill… Although he _did_ mention losing his family. Maybe that was the reason?

The short glances he gave Ed to examine his face didn't gather him any clues. The boy acted completely normal, beside the fact that he seemed a bit tired. Well, no wonder about that.

"Why didn't you sleep?" he blurted out before he could help himself. Ed shot him a disapproving look.

"None of your business."

"What were you doing the whole night?"

"Studying alchemy."

"What kind of alchemy?"

Ed sighed, irritated with his stubborn inquiring. Good, Van thought. He was glad he could return the favor.

"I had a long talk with Roshan yesterday about his **experiment**." There was clear distaste in his tone. "I have to figure out what he did and how he did it. Fortunately, it seems he doesn't really know himself, lucky bastard."

Van recoiled from the insult against his old Master. Hearing Ed saying such things about him felt so dangerous and strange. He would have feared even to_ think_ those, while he belonged to Roshan.

"I don't suppose you know what he's currently working on, do you?"

"No clue," Van admitted.

"He used your blood to make a living creature, called a Homunculus," Ed lowered his voice and looked around, like he didn't want anybody to hear their conversation. "For now, all you need to know that the Homunculus is very dangerous. It's part of the reason why I had to get you out of Roshan's house as quickly as possible."

"What?" the teen stared at him, uncomprehending.

"We shouldn't be talking about it here," Ed told him, and grabbed his arm, dragging him to the market. "I'll tell you more about it later, when we return home. Now, let's focus on what we're going to have for breakfast."

A happy smile grew on Hohenheim's lips. So they were going to have a nice breakfast, too? Someday he might just hug this generous alchemic Beansprout in pure joy, if he would keep doing things like this.

They stopped at a small restaurant and got fresh cut vegetables, including tomatoes and cucumbers, pastries, fried eggs and nuts. The smell was so delightful Van thought he was going to die waiting for the dish.

Funnily enough, it seemed Ed shared the same sentiments because as soon as the plates landed on the table, he started devouring everything in shocking speed like he'd been deprived of food for weeks. Van's manners weren't any better, though. Barely twenty minutes later, they were both full and sat on a bench, content.

"I gotta say, I'm warming up to Xerxesian cuisine," Edward said with a grin. "It's very different from what what we ate back home, but it's really really good. I wonder what Xingnese food is like."

"Where are you from, anyway?" Van asked curiously, seeing his chance of getting to know his new… friend? Is that what they were? It was probably the best name for it at the moment.

"I came from the west."

"West? Really?" he was slightly surprised. "I heard there are only forests filled with barbarians there."

"Huh? Oh, right..." Ed seemed taken aback at the description. "Yeah, there are a lot of forests there, I suppose… I wouldn't know though, I came straight here, so hadn't seen that much." He thought for a moment, before he resumed speaking: "I haven't met many 'barbarians', although there was this group of bandits that attacked me and my companions on the way."

"Bandits?" Van's eyes grew wide.

"They were such pathetic cowards, you know," Ed snorted. "I didn't even have to use alchemy to take them out."

"'Take them out'?" The teen's jaw dropped.

"What?" Ed looked genuinely puzzled seeing his awed expression. "It wasn't that hard, there were only five of them..."

"You and your companions defeated a group of bandits?!" Van exclaimed incredulously. Bandits were very dangerous, they spend their entire lives using weapons and were very hard to defeat. Even with alchemy, Ed was a small kid. "How many people were there with you?"

"Just me, an old man and his wife." Ed rolled his eyes at his disbelief. "Traveling traders. They gave me a ride to Xerxes."

"Did he give you a weapon or something? Was he a skilled warrior?"

"Nooo," Ed snickered. "The couple didn't have anything to defend themselves with, poor guys. They were so convinced we were doomed that they started shouting at each other 'the last well-deserved insults before their graves', as they called it. Honestly, it was hilarious. I took all the bandits out myself while those two were too busy arguing to notice. They looked so surprised afterwards."

If he hadn't witnessed Edward doing the impossible yesterday, Van wouldn't have believed it. He gaped at the boy, making a pretty accurate impression of a stunned goldfish.

"Close your mouth, or you'll catch a fly, kid," Ed laughed, looking very smug and amused with his reaction.

"Who are you calling a kid?!" Van instinctually shot back, snapping out of his stupor. "And just how old are you, anyway?"

"Sixteen."

He almost fell from the bench.

"Sixte- WHAT?!" he shouted. "No way, you're a year OLDER than me? I thought you were TWELVE or something!"

"Wait, what?!" Ed was equally indignant. "You mean to tell me you're fifteen? You're younger and **still** taller than me? That is **so not fair**!"

"But how can _you_ be sixteen?! You're just a pipsqueak!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PIPSQUEAK!"

* * *

"So, Ed," Van asked much later, after they were done and walking home. "You said you 'took out' five bandits yourself? Without a weapon?"

"Yup."

"How? How did you do it? Did you make a trap or something?"

"Nope," Ed said cheerfully. "I just beat them up into submission."

"What?" Van couldn't help a bit of skepticism creep into his voice. He believed when Ed defeated the bandits, but he was sure he was hiding something important. Nobody just confronts five armed people and gets away with it without a trick in his sleeve. Unknown to him, those thoughts played out clearly on his face.

Ed narrowed his eyes, not pleased with the sliver of doubt he was detecting. Suddenly, a mischievous spark glimmered in his golden orbs. Van got an ominous feeling.

"Why don't I show you?" Oh yes, he was definitely up to something. That smile was waaay too innocent. "Hit me."

It took him a moment to register what Ed said.

"Uh, what?"

"Go ahead. Punch me."

"Why?"

"If you can touch me, then..." Ed trailed off, uncertain what to say to make the offer more appealing to Hohenheim. "...then I'll buy you a double dinner or something?"

Van liked betting. He got a talent for it. Almost every time he made a bet with Andal he won. He usually chose his prizes to be as humiliating for his opponent as possible. Now, he got an idea.

"How about you admit that you're the shortest guy in Xerxes?" he smirked.

Ed's irritated expression alone was priceless. After few seconds he recomposed himself.

"Alright," he told him calmly. "But if I win, you're going to admit you are the biggest idiot in this country and I am **not **short."

Van grinned. "Deal! What are the rules?"

"All you need to do is hit me. It can be with your arm, leg, anything. If you drop then you lose. Sounds fair?"

Van nodded.

"Go all out on me!" Edward lazily put his arms on the sides, waiting.

The teen scrutinized him suspiciously. What he was planning to do? He was right in the open and they stood two feet apart from each other. Van looked around. There were no people on the street. He took a deep breath and charged.

Faster than he believed was possible, Ed gracefully dodged his fist and moved aside. Van swayed, turning around and blinking in surprise.

"What's the matter?" Edward teased with a confident glimmer in his eye. "Is hitting a target as hard of a task for you as pronouncing a simple two-syllable word? My my, that's so sad."

Van growled angrily and swung his left hook. Once more, Ed avoided his attack effortlessly.

"Is that all you've got, Hohenheim?"

He tried again, and again, but every time he approached Ed acted like he could read his mind. His balance was absolutely flawless, not letting Van catch him off guard. He decided to try a little trick.

The teen ran forward, making a wide motion with his arm, making it appear like he was going to send a punch out. However at the same time he kicked, hoping to reach one of Ed's legs. He didn't know his opponent saw the attack long coming. He grabbed Van's foot with his left hand and pulled, causing him to land on his butt on the ground, with an undignified gasp.

"Oof!"

"Looks like I win," Ed grinned cheekily.

"Oh shut up," Van's cheeks blushed slightly.

"Go on, say it."

"Alright, you're not short," he murmured in defeat.

"And…?"

There was some unrecognizable mumbling.

"I can't heaaaar youuuu!" Ed sang, clearly enjoying the moment.

"...and I'm an idiot," Van finally said with a sigh.

"That you are!" Edward agreed, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him up.

"I should have known you'd do something like that," Van was pretty frustrated and disappointed with himself. Did Ed had to be better at _everything_?

"Consider it a valuable lesson," Ed told him lightly. "As your teacher I can assure you, this is not the last nor the least painful one."

"That's reassuring," Van huffed.

"Come on, I was being so easy on you. If I treated you like _my_ alchemy Teacher did..." Ed suddenly shuddered. "Well, you don't wanna know."

Van strongly suspected he really didn't.

"Quite being so grumpy and accept the lesson I so graciously decided to bestow upon you," Ed attempted to sound over-the-top and smug, but he spoiled the effect as he burst out laughing at the end.

"And what exactly is the lesson, _my Master Ed_?" Van asked sarcastically.

"Never challenge the Fullmetal Alchemist!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**I hope I get the translation of the Japanese word "Sensei" right. I don't know how slaves would address their Masters in Japanese, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be "Sensei". Just to clarify, I don't know Japanese, so I may be a bit inaccurate. For the sake of this story let's assume Amestrian is Japanese.**

**You're probably waiting for Ed's perspective to come in, right? Well, you're going have to wait a bit, but don't worry, it's coming.**

**Thank you very much for reading, please review and comment, and most importantly – read on and enjoy! :D**


	5. A Friend

A drop of sweat trickled down on Van's forehead. His teeth clenched tightly, as he struggled to steady his trembling hand.

_You can do this_, he tried to reassure himself. He glanced to the side, only to see a pair of unyielding, golden eyes, piercing straight through him, making him immediately regret this action. ..._C__rap. I can't do this._

The shaking of his hand intensified. He took a deep breath (one of many, during the previous hour and a half) and began, trying to look confident. Which failed quite miserably.

The hand had barely moved five inches, when Ed's weary voice interrupted:

"Stop, stop."

"No!" Van yelped pleadingly. "I can do this! One more time!"

The other teen's brow twitched. "Van..."

"I barely started this one! Just one last chance, please, please, please!" he begged, not caring how pathetic he must have sounded.

Ed growled and covered his face with his gloved palm.

"Fine," he permitted eventually, with no effort to conceal his exasperation. "But this is your last try, I swear."

Van exhaled with relief; phew, he wasn't going to die just yet! Then he looked back at the piece of chalk in his fingers and gulped, his expression falling. His execution had only been postponed, after all.

Deliberately, he pressed the chalk back against the cool stone floor. After another deep, calming breath, he slowly began drawing a circle. His hand was still shaking (he couldn't help it, with Edward's unnerving, penetrating glare on him through the whole process), but this time it moved much more smoothly. After about twenty seconds, the chalk touched the starting point.

Van's shoulders slumped as he released his breath – oh, gods, he actually did it! Right in front of him was a complete, not-distorted circle! He might actually survive this day after all!

Ed narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the drawing. Van inwardly beamed with pride. However it was short-lived, as the verdict came:

"That's an oval."

Van looked at him indignantly. "It is _not_! It's a circle!" He insisted, pointing at his drawing. During their lesson Ed had been making endless remarks about how Van's circles resembled stomped-over ovals, so he had no choice but to learn what it meant.

"No, it isn't," Ed said bluntly.

"But it still looks way more like a circle compared to the other ones!"

"Doesn't matter Van, it's just as useless in alchemy as an outline of a crushed partridge egg," came the merciless response. "We're going back to sparing."

Van paled. He'd known it was coming, but it didn't make it any less terrifying. "But-"

"To train the mind, you must first train the body. Obviously, your body isn't trained well enough to move onto your mind," Ed turned around to leave the room.

"But-!"

"If you start complaining again, I'm going to add two more hours to tomorrow's practice," he promised with a dangerous, angry tone, exiting through the door.

That was enough for Hohenheim to jump to his feet and rush after him.

"Coming, Master!" His tongue slipped yet again. Old habits die hard, it seemed.

"Don't call me that!" Ed snapped, shooting daggers at him with his eyes.

"R-right! Sorry, Ed…"

"Idiot…" he mumbled under his breath, but Van still heard it. He was tempted to make an unflattering comment about Ed's height – it never failed to get an amusing reaction from him – but he knew better than that. It would be downright suicidal right now.

It was unbelievable how much Van's life changed since Ed appeared in it. What also surprised him was how swiftly the last month had passed. He would have sworn time was moving faster somehow, now that he was living with the mysterious alchemist.

Edward remained true to his every word: he never treated Van as slave. He always referred to him as an equal, even while he was teaching. Van couldn't quite understand why, because their time together proved that he was anything _but_ equal to Ed. It seemed that any good trait he possessed, Ed surpassed him, multiplied by the factor of ten. He was faster, stronger, confident, knowledgeable… If he hadn't come to admire his new teacher, Van would be jealous of his skills.

The first alchemy lessons were the opposite of what Van had expected. Instead of teaching him how to read and write first, Ed started training him by giving a lot of physical activities to perform. Surprisingly, none of them were actual housework, like he used to do as a slave – Ed practically forbade him sweeping the floor, saying it was badly affecting his posture. In the mornings they ran around the city, for two hours straight – any slaking off would have horrifying consequences… of **extended sparring session in the afternoon**.

The sparring sessions were the most fearsome experience Van ever had, even including his first sight of alchemy. He had learned the hard way **why** nobody should challenge the Fullmetal Alchemist. Even though Ed always insisted that "he was going easy on him", every time Van was ending up with a new collection of bruises. Well, admittedly, those were mostly self-inflicted. No matter how hard he tried, Van just couldn't lay a punch: Edward always seemed to know exactly where and when he was going to attack. As the result, Hohenheim was falling quite often, usually on his backside, with Ed looking annoyingly smug and amused about it. It agitated Van so much he soon became determined to get better, for the sole purpose of eventually beating him – even if it would be just once. Still, it didn't decrease the amount of terror he felt when they were about to get started.

At first, Van was very confused about those teaching methods. Not that he'd got any different experience – he'd never had a teacher before, naturally, but what any of this had to do with alchemy? It was supposed to be a science, right? He never witnessed Roshan doing any of those things. In fact, his old Master preferred comfort above all else. Any hard work that needed to be done, was always accomplished by his slaves... Actually, now that Van started comparing Edward Elric and Roshan, he came to an extremely shocking conclusion that the latter was, in contrast to Ed… _**lazy**__?_

This was the first directly negative thing Van had ever thought about his Master. It was a totally new, alien concept. _Roshan's a lazy man._ It was followed by other mind boggling realizations. Not only was he lazy, Roshan had many other flaws, just like any normal human being. He could be just as presumptuous as Andal, for example. Van shared his amazing discovery with Ed, who whole-heartedly agreed, much to his surprise.

"He is so totally full of himself," he said, rolling his eyes. "Roshan spews cajolery like a merchant, too. To think I have to deal with him a while longer, it gives me a headache."

"What do you mean, 'deal with him a while longer'?" Van asked. Ed was leaving for several hours every week, but he never explained to him where he was going.

"He's a royal alchemist. He has the access to a lot of important information, so I have to keep contact with him…" Something in Edward's eyes darkened. "No to mention, he has the Homunculus in his mansion right now."

The word sounded vaguely familiar…

"You said something about it before, right?" Van scratched his head, struggling to remember. "That… 'Holusus' thing?"

Ed deadpanned. "You mean Homunculus."

"'Holun'…?" Van gave up and sighed. "…oh forget it. What was it again? You mentioned it, but I don't remember."

"Right... I was supposed to tell you, but I forgot too, didn't I?" Ed didn't seem very happy to talk about it, but he explained anyway: "A Homunculus is an intelligent, living being, created artificially with alchemy. It very difficult to accomplish, but apparently, your old Master has much more luck than skill. He used your blood to make that thing, which is why you're in danger."

Van stared at him in shock. "Danger…?"

The alchemist nodded solemnly. "The Homunculus, since its birth, possesses a very vast knowledge, including alchemy – much greater than I do. It's the reason why Roshan wanted to create him in the first place, because it knows more than him. But the Homunculus is also very, very cunning. It would try to manipulate you and Roshan for his own selfish gain."

"Is the 'Hum'… uh… that creature… _evil_?"

Ed turned his head away and closed his eyes. "As much as I want to say: 'Yes, it's absolutely a soulless, perverse abomination!'… The truth is…" A sigh escaped him and he opened his eyes, full of some strange sorrow. "It's… not exactly that simple."

The reluctance in his voice made Van extremely curious now. "How so?"

"In a way, yes, but from another point of view… no, it's not completely evil. You could say a Homunculus is like a human in that aspect. Remember what you said yourself earlier? That all human beings, no matter who they are, have flaws? Well, have you ever heard of 'the deadly sins of man'?"

"…No?"

"There are seven of them: Lust, Sloth, Gluttony, Wrath, Greed, Envy and… Pride." The last he practically spat, something akin to hatred flashing in his eyes. Van noted it with slight shock – Ed never looked this angry, even when he talked about Roshan and slavery, it almost looked like he had something personal against that particular sin. Van wondered why, as Edward continued: "Everybody has them buried in their hearts. But in spite of what most people may think, they're necessary. They are what make us human. They're the result of having dreams and desires. Learning how to live with them, overcoming them, separating what we want and what's right – that's precisely how he conquer our weaknesses."

"Right…" Van could see what Ed was getting at. Listening to his words, it was hard to believe he was only sixteen. He had the intelligence and wisdom of an ancient sage, or the King's advisor.

"Now, the Homunculus, because he was created with your blood and you're human, has human flaws as well. But he doesn't like it." Ed frowned. "He wants to become 'the perfect being'. In other words, a god."

Van gasped.

"Now you see how important it is for me to keep an eye on him. If I don't, his plotting will bring the downfall of the entire Xerxes. I can't let that happen."

"And it..." Van gulped, feeling his heart racing. "...it wants to use _me_ for its plans?"

"…sort of, yes."

The teen shuddered. Never had he imagined he would become a target of a malicious creature like that. It sounded so surreal, yet he couldn't help but feel afraid because of this ominous warning. Ed apparently noticed, as he put a comforting hand on Van's shoulder.

"Hey, don't worry," he said with surprising gentleness. "You're going to be alright. I won't let anything happen to you, okay? Just trust me."

He did, of course Van trusted him, how could he not, after everything that Edward had done for him? But as he stared into his eyes with growing confusion, an important question surfaced his mind.

"Just how do you know all of that, Ed?"

Edward's face suddenly became blank. He turned his head away from him, hiding his eyes under his long bangs. Van watched his strange behavior with growing nervousness. "Ed…?"

Without a warning, Ed spanned around and left the room.

"W-wait!" Van quickly followed him. "Where are you going?"

"I thought it was about time I began teaching you real alchemy," Ed said not looking at him, pulling out some chalk from the drawer of his desk.

"R-really?" Van's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. Till this moment, they had been doing only physical exercises, with the explanation that: _'To train the mind you must first train the body_', which he didn't even understand what was supposed to mean (except that you get your body to ache everyday).

"Yeah, since you're doing well with your training, I think it's about time we started with the basics of transmutation arrays."

Only a couple of days later when Van thought about it, he started to suspect Edward's only reason for the lesson was to use it as a distraction. After all, Ed never answered the question.

…And that's how Van Hohenheim ended up spending the next two and a half hour, struggling to draw the most basic figure in alchemy: a circle. But every time, no matter how much he tried, the lines were uneven, the shapes were lopsided and the beginning point and end didn't connect.

Ed was patient at first, but slowly he began to lose his cool as Van kept stubbornly insisting to continue, until he got it right. Watching the younger teen drawing hopeless ovals and claim they were perfect circles _for hours_ didn't make him very happy. The fact that both tended to lose their tempers when they were irritated didn't help much. Eventually, they arrived at the point when Van rudely demanded to be given more time, making Edward lose it and threaten that if he failed to draw at least **one** correct circle, they would immediately proceed to sparring – one much harsher and longer than usual. Just picturing it made Van sweat buckets. That was _not_ what he was going for! If it was true that Ed was always going easy on him – he didn't even want to think what he would be like when he was mad. Unfortunately for Van, it made him so nervous his hands couldn't stop shaking, resulting in his failure in the given task.

As poor Van had feared, Ed wasn't kidding with the punishment.

For the first time in their sparring practice, Ed not only avoided his attacks, but gustily delivered them himself, with no warning whatsoever. He moved like a viper, fast and precise, striking Van in every exposed spot he wasn't guarding.

Hohenheim especially tried to avoid the hits of Ed's right arm. From the start, he had noticed there was something odd about it. Ignoring that it was always covered in bandages (_why? Were the scars really that bad?_) and it felt hotter compared to the rest of Ed's body, which was noticeable even through the thick fabric… Van avoided that arm's strikes like plague because _they_ _hurt so freaking much_. Edward's right fist felt like it was made of stone instead of flesh. Ed clearly had been holding back though, he rarely used that arm in the sparring sessions. Same went to the left leg. At first, Van believed those limbs to be more fragile and sensitive because of the past injuries. Oh boy, had that assumption been wrong.

Now Ed was assaulting him with the more powerful arm, eager to teach him a lesson about mindless stubbornness. Van ducked, breathing heavily. Ed charged forward, jumping and swinging his left hook. The younger teen moved to the side with one leg, just like he was taught, and leaned backwards. A fist moved inches away from his nose as it missed. Van instinctively leaped away, resulting in him losing balance and staggering on only one leg. Ed saw the opportunity immediately and dragged his left leg on the ground, knocking Van off his feet.

"Oomph!" he breathed out as his head hit the dry ground.

"Get up!" Ed ordered.

Van was wheezing. They've been sparring for half an hour, but it felt like three or four at least. He already felt like a stampede of cows had gone over him, twice. Edward must have been absolutely infuriated, he'd never pushed him like this before! How Van was going to survive this?!

"What, you're all out already?! You can't be serious!" His teacher looked incredulous.

"I… can't…!"

"Yes you can!" Ed forced him to get onto his feet with his left hand. "You have enough strength to talk, you have the strength to fight! Come on!"

Van stared at him wearily, still breathing heavily. He had to support his weight by putting his hands on his knees, bowing forward. He felt his legs giving out on him and he sat back on the ground. He knew Ed was probably going to kill him for this, but he was just so tired!

Ed really looked like he wanted to murder him for a moment, but then he unexpectedly sighed and shook his head.

"Fine. Ten minutes, that's all you get!"

Van struggled to even his breathing as he placed his head between the knees. It was pounding painfully, and his limbs were trembling with exhaustion. He heard the sound of steps moving away and he realized that Ed left the yard. Instead of relishing the break and being happy that his life had been spared (not literally, of course – Van truly trusted Ed not to hurt him… _**much**_), he suddenly felt abandoned… and utterly _pathetic_.

Edward did so much for him, and Van was nothing but a failure. He couldn't fight, his body was weak and his mind was worse – he couldn't even draw properly! He tried, he really did, but he kept on failing. No wonder Ed left him. He must be so disappointed in him… So ashamed of his terrible student, he can't bare to look at him anymore…

Before Van could drown himself in self-pity completely, someone poked him in the shoulder. The teenager blinked and realized that Ed was back. He was so distracted he didn't even hear him return.

"The break's over?" he asked, scrambling to his feet as quickly as he could. Van swayed a bit and could have fallen if Ed hadn't grabbed his forearm and kept him straight.

"Hey, easy," he said in such calming voice Van snapped his neck to the straight position to look at him. There wasn't a hint of anger or irritation on Ed's face anymore. "No, not yet. Here, drink this. You looked like you're about to pass out."

He put something into his hands and Van couldn't help but gape for a moment. It was a glass – a real, _genuine_, transparent glass. He never had the luxury to hold one before, he was never even allowed to touch or clean the expensive glass containers, Master Roshan didn't trust his younger slaves not to break them – but that was beside the point! There was crystal clear water inside it, with something swimming on the surface. It was also a transparent, solid substance, in the shape of cubes, but it didn't look like glass. What was it then?

As he watched the cubes float in the mesmerizingly clean liquid, he realized that the glass was cold. It wasn't just cooler than his fingers – his entire body had heated up during the sparring, no doubt – it was actually cold, like _really_ _cold_. It felt like holding a winter night in his hands, a surprisingly pleasant experience in the middle of summer. He rubbed the glass, leaving a small dirty trail with his dusty fingers. He could see drops of water form on the outer side of the surface and he wondered why or how it was happening.

Ed must have noticed his fascination, because Van heard him speak a moment later.

"What is it? Wait, you… You know what ice is, right?" he sounded uncertain.

Van blinked at him. "Ice?"

"You know, like solid water?" Ed looked really thrown off by his blank expression. "Um… You have winter in Xerxes, right?"

"Yes," Van said absentmindedly, watching the cubes in his glass.

"Do you ever have snow?"

Van frowned, trying to recall where he knew the term from. "Wasn't there a legend about white powder falling from the sky in the countries up north? Is that what it was called, 'snow'?"

Ed opened his mouth for a moment. He seemed to be slightly dumbfounded.

"A legend? Seriously?"

"So the stories are true?"

"Yeah, they are…" Ed rubbed his head in clear disbelief.

"What is ice, then?"

"Wow… okay, look. Ice is what water turns into when it's cold. It can look like white powder, then you call it 'snow' but when you have compressed- er, I mean, put together tightly… like really tightly… then it looks different. Like this." He poked the glass. "And it turns back into water when it's warm. Like, right now. You can see the ice melting and getting smaller if you look closely."

Van immediately brought the glass closer to his face. Ed was right, they were getting smaller! His eyes widened.

"Amazing," he whispered.

Edward didn't seem too impressed.

"I can't believe you didn't know about ice…" he mumbled. "We really have a long way to go, before you can even begin to comprehend basic chemistry…"

Van lowered the glass and looked at his teacher with shame. "I'm sorry…"

"Hmm? What for?"

"You try so hard to teach me, and yet… I'm…" Van had a really hard time saying it, he absolutely _hated_ being called stupid or an idiot, but his time with Ed had humbled him a bit. Enough to admit this out loud, anyway: "…I'm just not that smart, please believe me that I'm trying, Ed, honest! I'm trying hard, but there are so many things I don't understand! I don't understand why I need to train and learn to fight in order to do alchemy, judging from the way you do things it's probably obvious, but I just don't get it. And…" He looked at the beautiful glass in his hands sadly. "…and I… I don't think I ever will…"

Edward scowled at him and crossed his arms.

"Look, Van, no offence… You are not an idiot, nor hopeless – trust me, I wouldn't waste my time on you if I thought otherwise – but what you just said is plain **stupid**."

"Huh?" Van looked up.

"Did you really think you could learn alchemy in a month?" Ed lifted his eyebrows skeptically. "Even for fully educated, intelligent adults it usually takes years to grasp the basics of alchemy. Don't you dare give up only because we're having a rocky start."

"I'm not giving up!" he protested. "I… I just thought… I, uh…"

"What? Just thought, what?"

"I'm sorry!" Van blurted out.

"You already said that, now what the hell are you apologizing for, exactly?" Now Ed seemed to be getting angry again.

"Because I'm such a pathetic student!" he explained dejectedly. "I can't get anything right… You gave me so much and I owe you and… You always talk about Equivalent Exchange, that for everything we get we have to give something in return, and I can't even repay you by being a good student…! I'm-"

"Stop!" Ed interrupted harshly. "Just, stop."

Van closed his mouth and eyed him with apprehension. However, Ed wasn't angry anymore. He was looking at Van with a strange mixture of sympathy, annoyance and anxiety. Van hadn't seen such expression on his face before.

"Van… Hohenheim," he started, using his full name to emphasize what he was about to say. "Listen carefully. You're not pathetic. You're not a horrible student. In fact, I'd say it's exactly the opposite. You're learning really fast, faster than I thought you would."

He paused, letting those words sink in. Van was bewildered. This didn't sound like his teacher at all. Usually Ed would tease him, use the hard treatment, giving much more punishments than rewards and never complimenting him without a sarcastic remark. Apparently, something had changed his mind.

"You had no education whatsoever, you were never taught to write, or read, you've never been given a chance to learn," Ed stated firmly. "They wouldn't even let you so much as to **think** for yourself. Hell, you've been a slave since your birth for crying out loud! I'm proud that you're willing to try, that you want to become an alchemist, in spite of all the crap you've been through. Do you understand?"

"You're… proud of me?"

Edward tightened his jaw and nodded stiffly. He seemed a bit conflicted, like there were many different thoughts going through his head right now.

"I am. Now, quit whining and drink your freaking water!" A small smirk appeared on his lips. He appeared to be back to normal… well, almost.

Van looked at the ice cubes in his glass a bit sadly. He was thirsty, very much, but he loved the way the cubes danced on the surface…

"I'll make you more ice with alchemy later," Ed said gruffly, effortlessly reading his expression. "Just drink already, before you drop out of dehydration."

"Really?" Van should probably be embarrassed how childishly he sounded. He didn't know what 'dehydration' was – Ed was using a lot of big words he didn't know – but it was hard to care about that right now, he couldn't hide the excitement in his voice.

"Yeah, yeah," Ed waved his hand like it was no problem. Van was seriously starting to ponder if there was something Edward _couldn't_ _do_ with alchemy. He didn't use it very often, but whenever it was needed, he could always find a solution.

Van smiled and drank the cool refreshing liquid in delight. He decided then and there that he _would_ become an alchemist, at any cost. Now matter how hard it would get, no matter how many bruises, no matter how many failures… Ed believed he could do it and because of it, Van believed it too. The Fullmetal Alchemist was never wrong, was he?

It may have been silly, but… yeah… if he were to ever inspire "to be like someone when he grows up", Van would say, he'd want to be just like Ed (even though there was only a one-year difference between them).

Well, except for Ed's height, of course.

* * *

The second month passed even faster. The training wasn't easy, it was painful and exhausting, but Van didn't complain – or, at least, not as much as before. Van actually started to notice his own progress. Before he was mostly focused on his failures, but when he started to pay more attention to his improvement, he realized that it wasn't as small as he previously thought.

Van turned out to be a decent fighter; Ed successfully taught him many moves which were gradually getting more effective in their sparring sessions. As Van was getting into shape with their daily exercises and running around the city, he became more agile as well. He finally started to see why Edward considered physical training so important in alchemy. Energy was filling him, the aches were reducing and he was filling better every day. It could be also thanks to the new diet Ed had been providing him, his head was much clearer than ever before and he found himself more open to the lessons and remembering then easier.

To sum it up, Van was feeling great – but the same couldn't be said about Ed. It took the other a while to notice, but Edward always seemed down. Tired. He masked it pretty well behind his cocky, snarky attitude, but it was impossible to keep it forever a secret from someone who lived in the same house. Van had a feeling Ed was hiding a large part of himself, of his personality. He couldn't forget their first morning, when he noticed Ed's eyes being too red. There were more mornings like that one, but the teen was careful to never mention it to Ed. He knew his teacher would just deny it.

Ever since their talk that day, Ed changed his teaching tactics. For one, he used more positive encouragement – it made Van much more motivated than criticisms, and the reason for that was actually very simple. Van had never been commended for anything. Back when he was a slave, all he got where orders and scolding when he messed up. He was more eager to please Edward than his old Master Roshan, because Ed actually appreciated the effort and, most importantly, was _proud of him_.

It may be hard for someone who grow up with parents to understand, but for Van, having for the first time in his life someone who actually expected him to succeed, to excel, to be someone worth being proud of… it changed _everything_.

The more time they spent together, though, the more questions about the alchemist started to form in the Xerxesian boy's head. Ed was mysterious – there was no doubt about it, he was hiding many things – and always acted like he knew something about Van Hohenheim, something that the teen was not aware of himself, as strange as it may sound. It was becoming clear to Van as he sometimes caught strange looks Ed was giving him. Those looks were very often thoughtful, sometimes nostalgic, at times even grim – but there was always something else lurking in those eyes, a deep, dark and completely unidentifiable emotion, which made him very curious. He respected Ed's privacy, but Van wanted to know, because Edward was becoming much more to him than his teacher or liberator.

He was becoming Van's friend.

Friend – in the culture of Xerxes, it was not a word to be taken lightly. People from the same social class, who knew each other, were usually considering themselves only acquaintances. It normally took years for true friendships to develop, for a friendship was, according to popular belief, a holy bond of unbreakable understanding and trust. There was a legend of two royal guards, who became like brothers and were serving each other to the bitter end. Some Xerxesians believed friendship to be more powerful and significant than love, because romantic feelings faded with time, while platonic bonds lasted forever, unless the people involved willingly decided to end them.

Van Hohenheim, a former slave who knew a lot of people but none of them could be described as a 'true friend', wondered what a true friend would be like. He probably would be loyal. Like Ed. He would be strong and caring, too. Also like Ed. He would support and be there for the other, like Ed had been there for him. He would be considerate, like Ed was for every human being.

…yup, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that if he could ever find an embodiment of a true friend, it would be Edward Elric.

However, the fact Ed was like a friend to him wasn't enough. Hadn't Van learned that for alchemist, there always had to be Equivalent Exchange? He wanted to be Ed's friend, too, but he doubted he had earned himself the title yet.

Because if he had, Ed would share some of his burdens with him, instead of hiding them behind a strong façade and the everlasting phrase: 'I'm fine.'

Edward always insisted he was fine. But Van could feel in his gut that it was a lie. Ed was never fine.

Somewhere in his deep, golden eyes, there was always pain present.

* * *

Van lifted his right arm to block the attack. As Ed's left arm stopped on his, he twisted his body and kicked out, delivering a solid blow into his stomach.

"Umph!" Ed staggered backwards, holding his midsection.

Van stared at him in shock for a moment, then broke out into an elated grin.

"I did it!" he yelled happily. "I did it, I hit you, I finally hi-" he never got to finish as Ed knocked him off his feet. "Gah!"

"That's what you get for not paying attention!" Edward laughed.

"You-!" Van lifted his body on his elbow, putting himself in a half-sitting half-lying position. "That wasn't fair!"

"There's no such thing as 'fair' in a fight," Ed told him, sitting on the ground next to him. "Remember, your opponent is going to use any means necessary to bring you down."

"I know… But, I finally got to hit you!" Van cheered, immensely proud of himself.

"Yeah, yeah, great job, oh high and mighty hero," Ed said sarcastically rolled his eyes, but then smiled at him. "Seriously though, that was a good kick." He rubbed his stomach.

"Ha!" Van put his right fist in the air. "Who's the sissy now, shorty?"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A MINATURE LITTLE BABY DOLL?!"

Somehow, they both ended up on their backs on the ground, laughing and staring in the blue summer sky.

"Good job today," Ed said. "If you keep this up, you'll be an alchemist in no time."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks, Ed."

"No problem."

"No really, I wanted to thank you."

"Huh?" Ed turned his head to look at him, but Van had his eyes on the sky above them. "Where's that coming from?"

"How long has it been?"

"Since when?"

"You know since when."

"Right… About seventy days, according to my calendar. Why?"

"Everything changed since then. Like… everything. For the better, I mean. Thank you."

Ed snorted. "You're awfully sappy today."

"I know… But because of you, I might actually have a future. A life." Van smiled. "I could even get married and have a family one day."

He waited a moment for Ed to respond. He frowned a bit when the silence continued, then turned his head to the side.

He met Ed's eyes, staring at him in pure horror.

Van was speechless. He'd never seen this look on his face before. He didn't even know what brought it up. What did he do? What did he say?

Ed quickly stood up and backed away, his golden orbs not leaving him, his horror unfaltering.

"Ed? What…?" Van's voice was caught in his throat. He suddenly realized: family. He was talking about family. Ed told him he had lost all of his relatives, didn't he? Oh gods. What had he done?! "Ed, I…"

Before he could finish, Ed turned away and ran inside their house.

"Wait!" Van stood up as well and chased him. "Ed! Wait, please!"

The alchemist didn't slow down. Van wasn't nearly as fast as he was, so when he got back into the house, Ed had already shut the door of his room behind him.

"Ed?" He knocked on the door. "Ed, listen! I'm so-"

"_Leave me alone!_"

Van froze, horrified. Ed's voice. No, no way… He wasn't…

A muffled sob resounded behind the door.

He was. Van gulped.

Ed was crying. Edward Elric, the unyielding Fullmetal Alchemist who took out a group of bandits singlehandedly, was _actually crying_. And it was _his_ fault. _He_ made him cry. How could he?! How Van could have been so stupid, to forget how sensitive of a topic family was for him!

…well, it did come out of nowhere, Van barely mentioned family and had no idea why Ed reacted so violently to it, but it was still his fault. He had to fix this.

"Ed? I'm so sorry. Please, I didn't mean to-"

"_**Just go away, dammit!**_"

Van paused, torn. Ed sounded desperate. Part of him wanted to obey him – Van was so used to obey orders. It was even a bit tempting, to leave and let Ed calm down on his own. He had no idea how to deal with crying people, except for little Karim, but he could hardly compare a child with a scratched knee to an almost-grown-up man, mourning the loss of his loved ones. Frankly, Van was clueless what he could do to make Ed feel better. So shouldn't he listen to him?

However, there was this small voice of his conscience, whispering: _don't leave him to deal with his own. He always does that. He tires to appear strong. He never asks for help; it doesn't mean he doesn't need it._ No, Van couldn't just leave like that. He made Ed break down, the least he could do was to support him in his time of need.

Also, he suddenly remembered…

_"See? This is exactly what I'm talking about!" Ed exclaimed angrily, then sighed. "Such blind obedience."_

The first evening he spent at Ed's house, he should have stayed. He should have asked what was wrong. Now, listening to the quiet sobbing on the other side of the door, Van had no doubt that Ed cried that night. Why, he didn't know – but he wouldn't find out by choosing the easier thing. He had to confront Edward, if he was ever going to help him with his struggle.

He owed him that much.

"I won't leave," he said a bit weakly. Then he cleared his throat and repeated much more confidently: "I won't leave, Ed. Please, tell me what's wrong."

"W-what's wrong?" A hysterical chuckle came from Ed's room. "W-why w-w-would you think that s-something's wrong?" His feeble efforts to keep his voice strong failed horribly. "I'm completely f-fine, dammit!"

Van sighed. "Ed, I'm coming in."

"N-n-no!" Ed finally completely broke and cried openly, almost begging: "Just leave me alone, alright?! Please, please just leave."

Van took a deep breath, gently opened the door and peeked inside.

Ed was sitting on his bed, holding his head in his hands. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, his eyes were closed tightly. He was clearly still trying to hold it in, but his ragged breathing, interrupted from time to time by a sob betrayed that he had finally lost control. He had reached his breaking point, and Van pushed him over the edge. How he had done it, Van had no clue, but seeing him like this, he was almost glad, honestly.

Van moved quietly across the room and sat next to him. Ed could feeling the mattress shift next to him and stiffened.

"W-what are you do-doing here, V-Van?!" he spat, not opening his eyes. "I told you t-to le-le-leave!"

The other teen merely shrugged, ignoring that Ed couldn't see it.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't."

"W-w-why the HELL not?!"

"Because… you said yourself that I need to make decisions for myself." Van put an arm on his shoulder. Ed tensed under his touch. "I can't be an obedient slave anymore. I have to do what's right. And I know that leaving you right now wouldn't be right."

Ed finally opened his eyes and looked at him. The view was heart-wrenching. His expression bore the deepest pain, the darkness inside his brought out to light, he looked like the whole world had been taken away from him. But Van still couldn't recognize the main emotion on his face, the one that played in his features every day. It was finally there, out in the open for him to read, and yet Van still had no idea what it was.

"D-do what's right, huh?" Ed repeated, sniffing. "Are you always like that? Always doing what you thi-think is right?" He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, two shiny tears leaving a new wet trail on his face. "D-dammit, Hohenheim. You're too damn selfless! I hate you so goddammed much."

Van bit his lip. It hurt, it really hurt to hear Ed say something like that, but he somehow knew he didn't mean it. There was anger in his voice, but it wasn't directed at him. If Van didn't know better, he would have thought Edward was angry with himself.

"D-do you have any idea how damn ironic this is?" Ed sobbed, covering his face. His shoulders trembled. Van didn't lift his hand from back. "After everything that happened, _you_ of all p-people come to-to freaking cuddle me. Truth is su-such a sadistic b-bastard."

Van had honestly no idea what he was talking about, but he did what his instincts told him: he rubbed Ed's back soothingly, as he continued his rambling.

"Why d-did it have to turn out like this? I don't u-understand it, dammit!" Ed had never sounded so young before. "I n-never wanted… all that we… what I… you… he…"

"Shhh. It's alright."

"Why, Van?" Ed grabbed his robe and looked at his with pure despair. "Just, why?!"

"I don't know," Van murmured sadly. "I'm sorry, Ed, I really don't know."

Ed's lip trembled, and something in his eyes changed. Suddenly, before Van could process what was going on, Edward buried his face into his chest and wept.

"I'm sorry!" he chocked out. "Forgive me, I'm so so-sorry!"

Van was still in surprise for a moment. When he came back to his senses, he hesitantly wrapped his arms around Ed. He wouldn't dare to do that to his teacher without a permission, but he supposed Ed using his robe as a handkerchief was as good as one.

"It's alright," he whispered, shocked to hear his own voice tremble with emotion. Seeing Ed like this had shaken him more than he realized. "It's alright, Ed." He was clueless why Ed would be apologizing to him (_shouldn't it be the other way around?_) but he didn't want to disturb Ed, who obviously needed to vent his emotions out.

"…all my fault…"

"It's okay."

"…couldn't protect him…"

"I know, Ed. I'm sorry."

"…I screwed up…"

"Shhh."

"I only wanted to fix things… but I m-mess up everything…"

"I'm really sorry."

Van held him tightly for a long time, whispering comforting nonsense, until Ed's half-conscious babbling subdued. He didn't notice a couple of tears escaped him too.

For once, he hoped that maybe, just maybe, he earned to call himself Edward's friend in that moment.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Hello everybody, I'm back! :D**

**Wow, it's been a month since I've updated! Can you believe it?! I'm so sorry everyone, but I've got really good reasons for it. A lot of stuff happened to me during that time.**

**One, I lost all of my equipment. Don't worry, I still have all my data saved! :) But I had to give away my computer. I am, currently, completely deviceless. This chapter should have been uploaded three weeks ago, it was almost ready. However, I had nothing to edit it with. The fact that I had to move to a different country didn't help much :P Right now, I have no computer, I'm in a different country, and I will probably be unable to update regularly until the second half of August – when I get my computer back. Not to mention, I've got a lot of people pushing me to do things this summer, like traveling, having meetings, taking small jobs and stuff. And I kinda can't say 'no', because I haven't seen those people a whole year. I'm sorry, just right now, life is kind of busy for me. It's thanks to my sheer stubbornness you get this chapter so soon, people xD**

**So please, don't think that I'm planning to abandon my stories! Hopefully, you won't have to wait till August for my next update. It's just going to take me longer to write with this computer I'm using, it's sort of driving me crazy how bad this keyboard is, this is ridiculous. Not that I'm complaining, but it's practically falling apart :/ Oh well, I'll take what I can, I suppose.**

**To sum it up: I'm not dead, far from it, and I'm working on both "My Master Ed" and "Harry Potter and the Alchemist Brothers". I also want to start a third story, called "The Perfect Dream and a Living Nightmare", about an Ed from a parallel universe, but with my predicament, I don't know how soon I'll be able to do it. I just love, love, love those ideas and want nothing more than to share them with you guys :)**

**About this chapter, I can only say: I enjoyed writing it. I wanted to do some fluff so badly, but I didn't want to make it out of character. There's an actual reason why Ed broke like that out of nowhere, some of you can probably guess what it is.**

**What do you think? Please review and comment, and most importantly – read on and enjoy! See you next time, hopefully soon! :D**


	6. A Reflection

Van honestly couldn't tell how much time had passed. It took Ed a good while to calm down. But even long after he stopped crying, the boy didn't let go - he held onto Van's robe tightly like a man drowning, his fists clenched on the cloth so hard, the knuckles of his left hand became white. The teen wondered is Edward was aware of it at all.

In spite of the situation, it felt bizarrely... right. The proximity was especially surreal to Van, because he couldn't remember the last time he shared a hug with anybody - or any sort of friendly physical contact, for that matter. Slaves, as their Masters' 'property,' were meant to be as 'effective' as possible - to achieve that, the slave owners often punished them for disobedience or making mistakes, which resulted in physical contact being automatically associated with pain. This hadn't really changed for Van during his stay with Ed. Sparring hurt too after all. However, there was a significant difference between Ed's and Master Roshan's punishments - minor, but significant nevertheless.

Van was always allowed to fight back.

As a slave, all Twenty Three could do when he was about to be punished, whether justly or not (the concept of his Master being _unjust_ still boggled his mind) was to submit. It made Master go easier on him. Roshan wasn't the kind of person who found entertainment in others pain, but he was indifferent to his servants suffering, just like most slave owners. Van's teacher, on the other hand, not only was always giving him a choice - "_You do what I say or I extend our next sparring session!_" - but encouraged him to defend himself. Ed _expected_ Van to stand up to him. It gave him a completely new sense of self-value and confidence. He didn't realize it at first, but his behavior changed a lot because of this. He was no longer afraid to ask questions aloud, to make decisions for himself or to formulate his own opinions on things.

Still, it didn't change Van's image of human contact. In his mind, consoling with a touch was something mothers did for their children, and he had never experienced that. Van had been taken from his mother immediately after birth, which was a common practice. The closest he ever got while comforting a child was giving a friendly pat on the shoulder. That was basically what Van did for Ed in the beginning.

However, when Ed leaned on him in his despair, somehow Van knew what to do. Perhaps it's coded deep in human nature, a primary yet sacred instinct, passed from one generation to another. It could be called a parental inclination, or brotherly empathy, or just friendly compassion. Either way, Van understood that when a person seeks support in another, the absolute worst thing to do is to deny it. So, he remained in the awkward position they were in, patiently waiting for a sign that Ed wanted him to let go.

Ed was silent for so long Van briefly considered if he hadn't fallen asleep. He could hear the older teenager's breath though - it was much slower than when he was crying, but it didn't sound nearly calm enough to belong to a person sleeping. However, just in case he was, Van kept silent and waiting.

Finally, Ed's weak murmur reached his ears:

"Okay..." His voice was hoarse. "I'm... okay now. You can... you know..."

Van nodded and slowly released him. Ed was keeping his head low, making it impossible to see his face through the long blond bangs.

"Thank you," he whispered.

The other teen blinked, not sure what to say such uncharacteristic sincerity. "Oh, um... You're welcome, I guess?"

Ed quickly rubbed his eyes, sniffing for the last time. Even in this subdued state, he was trying to regain as much dignity as possible. Van pretended not to see it, to spare him as much embarrassment as possible. He suspected not many people ever got to witness Edward Elric in a moment of emotional vulnerability.

"Van, I..." Ed cleared his throat, but he still sounded much weaker than usual: "Listen, I... there's something... that I..."

Van tried to speak gently, but without treating his teacher like he was made of glass. The proud alchemist would hate that. "What is it, Ed?"

"There's something... something I should tell you."

"Huh?" That was highly unexpected. For some reason, Van thought that after Ed got back to his usual self, he would walk out and pretend this never happened. Was Edward actually going to **confide**? After spending so much time with the secretive alchemist, Van could scarcely believe it.

Ed lifted his head and looked at him. His eyes were still wet, red, swollen and filled with apprehension. This was not the picture of the Fullmetal Alchemist, the harsh teacher he got to know. The strong facade, the mask he'd been wearing this whole time had finally crumbled, revealing the true person underneath. Van had known - or at least suspected - but it was still very shocking to see. He stared at Ed in surprise, taking in how different his face looked with this openly painful expression.

"Ed?"

Edward opened his mouth, but no sound came out of it. He closed it after several seconds and tried again, with the same result. He let his head hang and he said something in a different language, probably a string of curses, judging by his distressed tone.

"Ed..."

"Dammit..." he switched back to Xerxesian. He hid his face in his hands, shaking his head. "Dammit, I can't."

"You can't, what?"

"I can't say it." Ed was shaking, but he didn't sound like he was about to cry; he sounded angry. "I can't say it, I just _can't_."

"Hey, it's alright," Van attempted to calm him down, the effect was the opposite of what he intended though.

"No, it is NOT!" Ed shouted, standing up abruptly. His feature twisted in pure misery. "You don't understand!** I'm not what you think I am!**"

"What?" was all the confused teen could say. 'Not what he thought he was?' What was that supposed to mean?

"I'm, I'm...!" Ed grabbed his bangs and pulled, appearing like he wanted to rip off all the hair from his head. "Argh! It's... To _hell_ with this! I can't do this! _Why?!_ Why does it have to be so damn **hard**?!" he yelled with great turmoil playing across his eyes. For a second it seemed like he was going to break down again.

Van stood up as well, lifting his hands in a placating gesture. "Ed, calm down."

"**I'M COMPLETELY CALM!**" Ed screeched with wide, bloodshot eyes.

Van deadpanned. "I can see that," he said wryly. Then he put a hand on his shoulder. "Just sit down, okay?"

Ed tightened his jaw in defiance, but complied. He looked so frustrated and hurt. It was tearing Van apart to see him like this. Whatever was the horrible secret Ed was struggling to tell him, Van decided in that moment that it was not worth it. Not if it meant Ed to suffer so much.

"Ed, I get it. You don't have to force yourself." Ed looked at him, baffled. Van frowned, making up his mind. "I don't need to hear it now. Just tell me one thing, please?"

Edward slowly nodded.

"Is it about me...? I mean," he hurried to clarify, looking on the side with shame. "Is it about something I do? Is it my fault? Did I say something tactless? Because I..."

When he looked up, Ed was staring at him in disbelief, completely aghast.

"_You?_" he finally spoked in a strained voice. "You think_ you're_ the problem? What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"...So it's not my fault?" he asked hopefully.

"What?! No!"

Van sighed in relief. "Good."

"Why would you even think something like that?" for a change, it was Ed's turn to be utterly confused.

"I noticed how sometimes, you look at me in a weird way, and you seem so..." he trailed off, uncertain what word to use. Upset? No, that was not it. He still didn't understand the meaning behind Ed's expression. "I just... All I want is to make it stop."

Ed paled slightly. "You... you noticed?"

Van frowned sadly.

"Of course I did. You thought I wouldn't after a couple of months?"

The way Ed bit his lip showed that was definitely what he'd been hoping for.

"You're... observant," he said. "I was sure I was being inconspicuous."

Van blinked. "Incosu... eh?"

For the first time since they left the yard, Ed broke into a smile. "Inconspicuous. As in unnoticed."

"Oh."

"Van..." The smile slipped off his face as quickly as it entered it. "I'm sorry for the way I've been acting. I... It had nothing to do with you. Well, uh, okay, it sort of does. But not like that!" He waved his hands frantically. "You didn't do anything wrong. You're not the problem here, it's _me_. It's always been me."

Van cocked his head in confusion as Ed made a pause.

"The reason... One of the reasons is because you remind me of someone," he finally confessed. "It's... exhilarating and agonizing at the same time, just how similar you two are."

Van was quiet for a moment, wondering if he should ask or not. It was obvious by that point that behind the mystery of the Fullmetal Alchemist was a tragedy. It must have been really terrible if Ed - the strongest, most confident, most unyielding individual Van had ever met - couldn't talk about it. Something so awful it had nearly permanently broken him. But in that instance, as his curiosity bested him, Van decided to make a risk. Ed always could just refuse to tell after all.

"Who do I remind you of?"

There was a tense silence. It stretched so much Van became convinced he was not going to answer. But just as the thought crossed his mind, Ed spoke, in a voice so tender and quiet he almost missed it.

"...my brother."

* * *

The two of them quietly walked back to their house from the market. They haven't talked since their conversation. Ed hadn't uttered a word except "Let's go eat something." The silence was uncomfortable, but Van was grateful for it right now, because he had a lot to think about.

He'd known Ed had a brother, he told him the first day, but it hadn't been mentioned since. Van wasn't sure if Ed's brother was dead, he only stated that "something bad happened to him", but it certainly appeared so. Ed said that his entire family was gone, so he either died or had been taken and sold into slavery. Although, with Edward's skills, if the latter had been the case, Ed would surely find his brother and set him free. So, it could only mean that Ed's brother was gone, permanently.

He tried to imagine how Ed must have been feeling right now, it was a very difficult task though. Van had never met his parents, not to mention siblings. It was a strong possibility Van had brothers and sisters, many of whom could have died young because the pressure of enslaved life. Van wasn't a selfish person, but it's hard to mourn people you don't even know. Ed probably loved his brother very much. How _could_ he sympathize with Edward then? Van tried to imagine the feeling of losing someone, searching his memory for anyone whose death would sadden him.

Zand? The gardener who worked for Roshan. He was a good man, but Van didn't know him that well, beside bringing him tools from time to time and wishing him a good day.

Laleh? A servant girl of the neighbors. She was kind and beautiful, anybody would be upset if anything bad happened to her, but Van didn't believe he would cry for her.

Andal? His rival. He never wished for him to die, but Van still despised him.

Ten? An elder slave working in Roshan's mansion. A patient, hard-working soul. Van definitely liked him, but he'd lived a long life. His passing was inevitable.

Roshan? His old Master. Van didn't know what he would feel if that man died. He wouldn't be _happy_, but he certainly wouldn't be grief-stricken, either. How would Roshan's death affect him? He supposed there were some questions that didn't have answers.

In the end, Van guiltily realized he couldn't relate to Edward's situation, because there had never been a person in his life he loved. He had acquaintances, but no real friends or people who cared about him, who _cared for_ _him_. It was the reason why he wished to have a real family someday. Like every human being, all he wanted was to be happy, and he believed he would find happiness in simple family life. True, Ed inspired him to become more than that, to become an alchemist, to finally grasp the true meaning of being a free man. Still, he understood the value of family, of spending time with someone not to gain something from it, but share _yourself_ with the other person. He understood, because... that was what Ed had done for him.

This thought made him stop in his tracks and look at Ed.

"Hm?" The alchemist turned when he noticed Van stopped following him. "What is it?"

Van stared at him, shocked with his revelation.

_"...One of the reasons is because you remind me of someone... my brother."_

No, he had been wrong. There was a person whose death would affect him personally. There was someone he cared about enough to understand what Ed was going through. This entire time, he knew and hadn't realized it...

"Ed, I'm sorry."

Ed's expression was equivalent of a question mark.

"Eh? What for?"

"I'm sorry that your brother is gone," he said sincerely. "I'm sorry about your family. I'm sorry you had to go through something like this."

Ed's face in a couple of seconds changed from confused to stunned, from stunned to afflicted, and from afflicted to almost irritated.

"Why would you be sorry? You don't even know them!" he said with annoyance mixed with disbelief.

"No," Van admitted. "But I know _you_."

"So what?"

"If your brother was anything like you, and I'm sure he was, then... I regret I never got to know him."

Van watched as Ed's eyes widened, then narrowed as his features twisted in a rueful expression.

"Me too," he said hoarsely. He looked on the ground and repeated, sounding strangely apologetic: "Me too, Van."

Van reached out to put a hand on his shoulder, but hesitated. He wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing by digging this topic, but if Ed's earlier outburst was anything to go by, it was for the better. The only way he could help Ed with his emotions, was to allow him to let them all out.

"What was his name?" he asked, retracting his hand.

Ed sighed and lifted his head, meeting his eyes again. "Alphonse."

"Sounds like a great name," said Van honestly. Ed gave him a funny look. "What?"

"Oh, nothing."

There was a thoughtful pause. Edward resumed walking and Van hurried to keep up with his pace.

"Al... he was the most caring, thoughtful, smart, incredible person that had ever existed," Ed suddenly told him, surprising Van with the open affection in his voice. Like an afterthought, he added cryptically: "Or would."

Van totally missed the significance of that comment, so he said: "He must have been an amazing brother."

"Yeah." Ed smiled, and Van inwardly sighed in relief. So he didn't make a mistake by continuing the topic. Ed still looked pretty miserable, but at least the smile he had now seemed genuine.

"Wait." Van frowned. "How can I remind you of him, then? That sounds nothing like me."

"You're more similar to him than you'll ever know..." Ed snorted like Van amused him with that comment. "...anyway, it's not just your personality. I don't suppose you-" He suddenly seemed perplexed. "Er, how should I say this... Not to sound vain or anything, have you ever studied your reflection in the mirror?"

"No..." Naturally he'd seen his own face, plenty of times - in a bucket of water. However he'd never really _studied_ his reflection, especially in something as rare and expensive as a mirror. Of course he remembered his general appearance - golden hair, golden eyes, square jaw, straight nose, pale complexion... He was as ordinarily-looking Xerxesian as could get. But he couldn't quite recall the exact arrangement of his features, not in detail anyway. "Why?"

Ed took a deep breath and looked ahead. "Then I say it's about time."

Van blinked twice in confusion. "Huh?"

* * *

Several pieces of wood were put on a chalk-drown circle.

"What are you doing?" Van watched Ed work curiously, fascinated by every display of alchemy.

"If we're going to make a mirror, we need tools first," Ed responded, putting his hands on the outline.

The circle flashed with blue sparks. A short moment later, there were two shovels with strange creatures decorating the handles.

"What are these for?" Van asked, examining the demonic-looking heads.

Ed started drawing another circle. "Ah, it's just to make them look cool."

"I'm no expert on shovels, but it looks pretty dumb to me."

The other stopped and growled. "You have something against my sense of style?"

"Style?" Van raised an eyebrow skeptically. "I don't think you have any."

"_What_ did you just say, nitwit? My style is awesome!"

"Nitwit?!" Van bristled, then grinned evilly. "Says the pipsqueak with no fashion sense even as small as himself!"

"PIPSQUEAK?!"

"Oooh, what's that? I can't hear from all that distance, with you kneeling down on the floor! Though, I suppose there isn't much of a difference when you're standing."

Ed jumped to his feet. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT HE CAN'T REACH TO TIE HIS OWN SHOES?!"

"That didn't make any sense..." Van said, wondering how could a person 'tie' his sandals.

"Of course it did, your idiotic head is just too full of stupidity to comprehend!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN IDIOT?!"

They argued for quite a while, and in spite of both Van and Ed being red and totally out of breath by the time their shouting match was over, they were relieved and enjoying it. Grave things had been said today. Ed's issues were so heavy, it was like the air was filled with lead. After the tension that grew between them, they really needed to reassurance that nothing changed between them. And for some weird reason, they found it in insulting each other like this. Van wouldn't be able to put it so eloquently, but he understood it well enough. That was why he provoked his teacher in the first place, not caring what kind of punishment he would receive.

When they were done, Ed said nothing about punishment though. Instead he finished his second circle and transmuted two large buckets.

"So, what are doing?" Van finally asked, curiously.

"We're going outside the city, where we can get some good sand," he explained as they headed out, with shovels and buckets in their hands. "I could just transmute the mirror there on the spot, but it could gather unwanted attention, and then we would have to carry the mirror through the city - and that would be way too much trouble."

"How big is the mirror going to be?"

"I was thinking about seven feet tall, four feet wide, maybe."

"Wow." Van gaped. He'd never seen a huge mirror like that! Probably only the king owned mirrors like that. To think Ed could just one make one on the spot...!

"Well, I've wanted a nice mirror in out living room for a while, anyway. No point in making it a cheap product."

"And then you want me to 'study' my reflection, right? Why?"

A small smirk appeared on Ed's lips. "You'll understand when I show you."

"Alright." Van shrugged. "But why do we need to go so far to get _sand_? It's everywhere."

"But not high-quality, Van. When you're an alchemist, especially a specialist with metal and stone transmutations, you learn to recognize the minerals just by looking at them." Ed grabbed a handful of sand from the ground with his left hand and showed it to him. "See this? It's mostly silicon dioxide, with some sodium, potassium and calcium compounds, and we need silver. Silver is one of the best reflective metals, that's why it's mostly used in mirror making."

"So we want silver?" Van frowned, thoughtful. "Why don't you just transmute silver from a rock? You can do that with gold, right?"

"Ah." Ed threw away the sand and looked at him. "I see I forgot to tell you the rules all alchemists need to follow. You see, transmuting light elements into heavier ones is forbidden, especially noble metals - like gold, silver, copper and platinum."

"Platinum?"

"A very rare metal, resembles silver but it's a lot harder and much more expensive."

"Hm... So, it's forbidden to make metals with alchemy?"

"Actually, only transmuting gold is illegal - you can transmute all the other elements as you please, as long as you don't sell them for profit. Besides, nuclear transmutations are hard as hell to perform, so it doesn't pay off anyway."

Van was a bit taken aback. "If it's not allowed, then why...?"

"...why do I break the rules?" Ed finished seriously. "It's a bit complicated. First, I need you to understand that I had very difficult circumstances when I came to Xerxes. I'm only sixteen, and people don't even believe _that_." His eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "I looked everywhere for a job, but nobody wanted to hire me, and I couldn't flaunt my alchemy skills for various reasons. Right now I'm Roshan's unofficial research partner, but even that skinflint doesn't pay me that much, all because '_you're only a child_'." He was practically seething. "I was tempted to beat him up a couple of times. He's lucky I need him."

"So, you needed money," Van completely understood. He would to the same thing if he were in Ed's place. "I guess it's alright, as long as nobody finds out about it, right?"

"Wrong." Ed's firm response surprised him. "It's not alright. There's a reason why transmuting gold is forbidden - it destroys the economy. Right now, there is more gold on the market than there's supposed to be. In reality, it means that the gold is less worth than the prices say."

"...I don't get it," Van sheepishly admitted.

"The price for specific article is determined by how much cargo there is available, and how much people need it. Think about it this way: would water cost much during the rainy season?"

Van furrowed his brow in concentration. "Uh... it would cost cheap, right? Because it'd be everywhere."

"And during the drought?"

"It... it would be much more expensive!" His eyes shone in understanding. "Because it would be much harder to get, and people would need it more!"

"That's correct!" Ed commended. "That's how the market works. The more of a product there is, the less it should cost. When gold is produced by alchemists and sold without knowledge of the government, the economy is terribly thrown off. The effects aren't visible when it's just by one person, but when a lot of people do that, it's catastrophic."

"Did it ever happen in your country?"

"Oh, yes, plenty of times. And believe me, I'd never transmute gold if it wasn't absolutely necessarily," Ed sighed. "Even when I showed it to you, I always counted the exact amount of gold that I created. I'm not going to act like it's never happened, because I'm in debt to the economy. It's like borrowing money from a non-existent bank. In the future, I plan to get a job and with the money I'll save, I will buy as much gold as I've ever transmuted. Then, I'll turn it into stone and throw it away. That's how I'll cover my debt."

Van was in slight shock Ed willingly took such heavy responsibility. "That's sounds... wearisome."

"Yeah. It'll take many years, no doubt." Ed stopped for a moment to put his bucket down and wipe the sweat off his face. The sun was up and burning. Van didn't know how he could stand it with the bandages on his right arm and left leg. "At least, it's better than owing money to some egoistic jerk, who'd blackmail and threaten me to pay my charge on time." He grinned for some reason. "And there are no percents involved. It's not that bad."

"If you say so..." Something suddenly occurred to Van. "But... you used the gold to pay for me too, didn't you?"

"Yeah." Ed resumed walking. "What of it?"

"That means I'm in debt, too."

"What? No you're not!" Ed looked at him with surprise.

"Yes I am. You pay for everything I get: the food, the clothes... And the work I do for you is nothing, compared to what you've done for me." Van made up his mind. "If I help you, you'll pay the debt twice as fast."

"Hey, it's not your problem to deal with, Van!" Ed protested. "I've never even told you that transmuting gold is forbidden. You shouldn't worry about fixing my own mess."

"But I do," Van told him with a cocky smirk he learned from his teacher. "And I will help. And nothing you're going to do or say is going to stop me!"

Ed smirked back at the challenge. "Is that so, Mister Van Hohenheim?"

"Yes, Master Edward Elric," he replied mockingly.

His teacher narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"We'll see if your opinion changes after a week of extended sparring sessions, my perky pupil."

"Ha!" Van lifted his chin confidently. "I've hit you once already! I'm not afraid. Bring it on, Fullmetal Alchemist!"

Edward's toothy grin resembled a shark ready to devour its prey. "Oh, I will, Van," he promised "You can be sure of that."

* * *

They finally reached the border of the city. Ed led them to a rocky cliff, surrounded by purple-ish sand at the bottom.

"Here we are!"

Van took some sand in his hand.

"_This_ is silver?" he asked dubiously, rubbing the grains between his fingers.

"Of course it's not _pure_ silver, moron," Ed rolled his eyes. "There's silver sulfide in this stuff, and a very small amount. But it should be enough for a nice mirror. Silver sulfide is black, like coal. There's almost no pure silver in natural environment, especially on the surface."

Van nodded in understanding and they stared filling the buckets with the dark sand. When they were done, Ed announced cheerfully:

"Great work! Now, you carry the buckets and I take the shovels."

The teen's jaw dropped in disbelief.

"W-what?!"

"You shouldn't have called me 'Master' again," he told him evil glee. "You know I hate that."

"Oh, come _on_!" Van exclaimed. "You said you were giving me a full week of extended sparring sessions! Isn't that enough for you?"

Ed cackled. "I never said that was your _only_ punishment!"

Van stared at the two buckets with dread. He couldn't be sure, but there were at least a talent of weight in each bucket. Dragging them back to the city on his own was close to impossible.

"Well, go on." Ed crossed his arms expectantly. "We have all afternoon, we're not in a hurry."

The Xerxesian cried in his head to all the gods, asking what kind of terrible crime had he committed, to deserve such cruel demon to be his alchemy teacher.

* * *

Eight hours later they reached their house. It was way past supper time, Van was drowned in his sweat, thirsty, hungry and most of all, so exhausted he was sure his limbs were all going to fall off. Van had hoped that if he was going to take a long time, Ed is going to lose his patience and take one bucket from him. Unfortunately, that assumption had been wrong. Ed seemed to be absolutely delighted, watching his exertion.

"Ah, that takes me back," he said in a dreamy tone as Van breathed heavily, dragging the buckets of sand. "This is the exact the sort of thing Teacher had me and Al do every time we insulted her."

"R-really?" Van asked, not believing him. There was no way Ed's alchemy teacher was as merciless as him... right?

"Oh yeah. Except her punishments were three times as hard."

"No way," he chugged, but then he stopped and stared at Edward. "**Her**?"

"Uh-huh."

"Your teacher wa- was a w-_woman_?" he breathed out in utter disbelief.

"Sure."

"How c-could she be so- so bad, th-then?"

A dark look suddenly showed up on Ed's face.

"Believe me, her being a woman didn't matter," he shuddered in apparent fear. "She was more evil than all the demons of hell combined."

Van didn't have a choice but believe him. He shuddered as well. Maybe Ed was as bad as a demon, but _one_ demon at least. As soon as he delivered the buckets and put them down, his body collapsed on the floor.

"So... ***huff*** ...you and your... ***wheeze*** ...brother Alphonse... ***puff*** ...did this stuff... ***wheeze*** ...how often...?"

Ed sat next to him. "Once a month or so."

Van certainly hoped Ed wasn't going to do that to him so frequently. He was going to die of exhaustion with that rate.

"You look like you're going to fall asleep any second," Ed noted with amusement after a moment of silence. "We better get you to bed. We'll make the mirror tomorrow."

"Just... gimmie two minutes..." Van mumbled, his eyelids slipping down.

"No, you're half asleep already," Ed grabbed his hand and pulled him up. "Come on, Van."

"One minute...?"

"Nope. We're going now."

Edward took him to his room and let him fall and his bed. It had never felt so soft before.

"What am I going to do with you, kid?" Ed's quiet, soft voice reached his ears as a blanket covered him.

"Thanks..." Van managed to mutter.

Somebody tugged his ponytail and his hair fell lose. He felt a hand brushing the tickling strands away from his face.

"You're welcome..." were the last words Van heard, before he drifted away to the dreamland.

* * *

When he opened his eyes, he knew immediately he slept in. The light falling through the window revealed it must have been near the noon. Van got out of bed and prepared himself in a rush. One of the nice things about living with Ed was that he was never forced to get up early. Ed was usually busy with his work at that time, it was Van's duty to remind him about something called 'breakfast' (honestly, Van sometimes wondered if Ed would starve himself to death if he wasn't constantly reminded by others that human beings needed regular nourishment). However, it was an unspoken rule that Van had to get up at a decent hour - unless he wanted to be woken up with ice. It happened once after an extended-sparring-session-day, and Van did not wish to repeat the experience.

Van left his room hurriedly, passing two full buckets of sand in the living room. So, Ed kept his word, Van thought happily. His teacher knew how much he loved watching him perform transmutations. Van couldn't wait for the day he would be able to do it too, even the smallest, the simplest one.

After looking around the house for a minute or two, he decided Ed must still be in his room, working on some alchemy research for Roshan. Van shook his head as he headed there. Did Ed ever took any breaks?

He opened the door and opened his mouth, prepared to say: "Sorry for being late, Ed!", but he was stopped by the most extraordinary sight.

Ed was laying on his bed, deep in slumber.

Van stood frozen for a couple of seconds, actually gaping. They've been living together for months, but he had never, _ever_ seen Ed sleeping. He had doubts Ed was capable of sleep. And behold, there he was, the Fullmetal Alchemist, snoozing like a baby.

Van couldn't believe he was thinking this, but it was the most adorable thing he had ever seen.

Ed's mouth was open, with some drool on his chin. His face was clear of any emotion, calm and relaxed, which never happened while he was awake. For the first time he looked completely innocent, and not just in 'not-mischievous' way - he looked like a _child_, not the troubled alchemy genius who had lost his family. Van marveled how many new sides of his teacher he had seen in the past twenty four hours.

The sleeping alchemist was dressed in his red and black outfit, the one he was always wearing indoors - he never told Van why, but he made sure this specific dressing style was never seen by anyone else. A white-covered hand was pulling up the black cloth on his torso, reveling his stomach. One of his legs hung out, making an impression like the boy had collapsed on his bed and immediately fell asleep, before he could change his position. His hair were in total disarray.

Van didn't even try to suppress a smile as he backed away and quietly closed the door behind him.

Deciding that Ed probably hadn't eaten breakfast either, Van took some money and headed to the marked. He was still sore after dragging those buckets, but the long sleep cured most of the aches. He bought pastries, cheese, some vegetables and beans, planning to prepare breakfast himself. After the eventfulness of yesterday, he just felt like doing something nice for Ed.

He was just finishing cutting the cucumbers when Ed appeared in the kitchen, rubbing his eyes.

"Huh? Van, you're..." he yawned widely. "...awake already?"

"Already?" the addressed repeated incredulously. "It's past noon."

Ed blinked at him sleepily. "It is?"

"Yeah, I missed breakfast too." Van took two plates to the table. "I came to your room earlier but I didn't want to wake you. When did you you go to sleep last night?"

"Right after you did," Ed said, filling his mouth in much slower pace than usual. "I don't think I've slept so well in over half a year."

"I didn't even know you _could_ sleep," Van joked, grabbing a sandwich. "How come you go to bed later than I do, and yet you're always up and working when I wake up?"

Ed stopped chewing. He looked down at his plate.

"I... I've developed insomnia symptoms lately," he said uncomfortably.

"Imsonia syploms?"

"_Insomnia symptoms_," Ed repeated. "I have trouble sleeping."

Van frowned. "You can't fall asleep?"

"It's not falling asleep that's the difficult part. I can't... remain asleep for very long," Ed shared, taking a small bite of his sandwich. "I usually wake up after a couple of hours or so, then it's impossible for me to go back to sleep, so I keep myself occupied."

Of course! Why he hadn't figured it out before?! Van really felt like an idiot sometimes.

"Have you been to a doctor about this?" Van asked reluctantly, not convinced Ed was going to take the suggestion well.

Edward laughed bitterly.

"It's not something a doctor can help me with," he said, shaking his head.

They ate in silence, both avoiding eye contact, except for Van's concerned glances from time to time. He hadn't heard about people not being able to sleep before. He couldn't imagine what would be the cause of it, except normal diseases. But Ed didn't look sick. Just tired.

"So," Ed spoke when he cleaned his plate "You ready to make that mirror?"

Van grinned happily. "Yeah!"

Ed drew a big transmutation circle in on the living room's floor, about eight feet in radius. They had to move a lot of furniture for that purpose. Then they tossed the sand into the middle.

"Hey, Ed. I just thought of something. Why did we need to go all that way to get this sand? You said all we needed was silver, right? Couldn't we just buy some on the market?"

"We could," Ed's eyes glimmered with mischievousness. "I just thought you carrying those buckets would be way funnier."

Van's jaw fell, then his cheeks grew red with incredulity and anger. "WHAT?! You little_ jerk_!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING LITTLE, HUH?!"

When everything was ready, Ed kneeled and touched the chalk lines.

This was the biggest transmutation Van had seen so far. He watched with sheer awe as the sand spread, forming a huge rectangle, standing on the ground. The blue sparks reflected on the evolving object, leaving beautiful patterns of light on the walls and ceiling. If he hadn't been so eager to see the product of the reaction, he would gladly watch the display forever.

Finally, the reaction subdued. There it was, finished, a seven-feet tall mirror in a stone frame. It was decorated with floral ornaments, instead Ed's usual demonic heads, which definitely benefited its appearance. The frame looked like marble, white and polished, making it look regal enough to stand in a king's chamber. The surface was absolutely flawless, from the spot Van was standing in the reflection appeared like the real image, making an illusion of a separate room behind mirror. Van stared breathlessly at the beautiful creation.

"Not to shabby, eh?" Ed smirked at his expression. "And you said I have no sense of style!"

"It's incredible," Van shamelessly admitted, not taking his eyes off the mirror.

Ed tugged his bangs and sighed.

"Okay, this is it." He grabbed Van's arm and pulled them both in front of the mirror. "Look."

Van took in the boy standing directly in front of him. He was a tall, averagely-built teenager. His hair were a bit unruly, a couple of long strands escaped his ponytail and dangled across his face. The eyes that met his were brilliant gold and filled with wonder. He studied the complexity of the boy's features, surprised to discover that the face was rather handsome. The whole process took him several seconds. Then, he turned to the person standing on his right side.

As soon as he did, he gasped.

"You see it now, don't you?" Ed said quietly.

Van stared at the second person with shock.

Only a blind man would miss the similarity between the two boys. Both shared the exact same shade of hair-color, the same complexion, the same shape of face. There were differences, of course, their appearance was hardly identical enough for them to be considered twins. The other boy's hair was thicker and his the cheekbones were less protruding, not to mention he was shorter. But the resemblance was still striking. What shook Van the most were the eyes. His gaze darted between the two sets of golden orbs for comparison, to make sure he wasn't mistaken. But no, the eyes were definitely the same. Shape, color, eyelashes, everything.

Van immediately recalled what that vendor with pomegranate soup said, all those months ago... He'd barely paid any thought to that before, but now her mistake made perfect sense.

_"It was a natural assumption. We're around the same age and look a bit similar. You don't have to apologize just because you thought he was my brother."_

_'A bit similar' is a little of an understatement_, Van thought with his mind reeling in confusion.

"I don't remember very well." Edward suddenly spoke, breaking Van out of his stupor. "It's been many years since I've actually seen Al's face. But..."

Van turned to Ed and wasn't surprised to see an expression full of sorrow.

"Is that why you picked me?" he asked. "Because I look a lot like your brother?"

Ed's jaw tightened. "...No," he stated firmly. "It has nothing to do with it. I was going to take you way from Roshan before I saw you. I hadn't expected..." his voice trembled, but he quickly took control of his emotions and continued: "I had no idea you would look so much like Alphonse. To be honest, I was... it spooked me. Even now, it kind of hurts."

Van was about to say something, but Ed interrupted him:

"Don't say you're sorry." The teen closed his mouth, surprised how he predicted exactly what he was going to say. "You have nothing to apologize for."

"But-"

"...I'm glad, honestly."

Van raised his eyebrows. "Glad about what?"

"That you remind me of him." Ed smile was bittersweet. "Because that way, I won't forget. I will never forget."

"Isn't it sometimes better to forget?" Van asked rhetorically. Seeing Ed's incredulous and slightly outraged expression, he stared stammering: "No no wait, I didn't mean that! It came out wrong. Not your brother! The pain. I meant the pain. I meant forgetting the pain." He let out a sigh of relief when Ed's tense face relaxed. "I just wish you weren't so upset all the time."

Ed huffed. "What do you mean? I'm not upset all the time."

"Yes you are."

He didn't deny the second time. There was a long moment of silence.

"Thanks, Van, I appreciate your concern," Ed said quietly. "But I _can't_ forget. I will _never_ forget."

Van noticed his hand sliding into his pocket.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Good news, everybody! The next chapter is the last one from Van's point of view (at least until all of Ed's side of the story so far is told), chapter 8 is going to be called "A Flashback" and you're going to find out exactly why and how Ed traveled back in time, and also what happened to Al. But no worries, the next chapter is going to be interesting too. There shall be a surprise! But no spoilers ;)**

**I know some of you are surely disappointed that Ed didn't tell Van yet about them being related, but patience, my friends, patience. The truth has to be revealed sooner or later.**

**Did anybody catch the "Avatar the Last Airbender" reference? I hope I didn't turn out too obnoxious... Sorry, I just love ATLA and couldn't help myself... xD Just google "****I'm completely calm" in image search and you'll see approximately how Ed's face looked like, hahaha!**

**Just a reminder, a talent is****50 kg = 110 Ibs, so two talents of sand in two buckets would be dragging ~100kg = 220 Ibs of weight for a couple of miles. Now you see why Van was so horrified! Ohhh, I love torturing this character... :'D**

**I hope I keep both of them in character, I try really hard to have all of my emotional scenes not too overboard. But if you think Ed is being too emotional, in my defense, he'd been through a lot in the last half a year. I'd like to see YOU losing the last member of your family and going several hundred years back in time without any friend whatsoever. I say he has plenty of reasons to feel a little down.**

**About Ed's plans with gold - you might think he wouldn't care that much, right? He's Ed, he breaks the rules a lot and doesn't give a crap when he has a goal in mind. But, he's not stupid. He knows every little thing he does affects the timeline. He's not going to risk destroying Xerxes' economy for his mission. So yes, he's absolutely serious about this. Ed is thinking through his every move on this mission.**

**By the way, your questions about how Ed's actions affect his and Al's existence are very valid. In fact, I'd say they are the primary issue about this whole thing. For further explanation though, you'll have to wait until future chapters. Sorry! :P**

**About my updates - hopefully I'll be able to write the next chapter of "Harry Potter and the Alchemist Brothers" in the next two weeks, but I'm being optimistic. I still have troubles with my equipment, but at least the keyboard works. However writing that story is a lot more work, that's why I decided to write the next chapter of "My Master Ed" first, so you could have something sooner. You're welcome! :)**

**Thank you very much for commenting, favoring and following my story, you have no idea how happy it makes me! :D Please read on and enjoy! **


	7. An Alchemist

"One is all. All is one."

Ed stood in front of his pupil with a stern expression.

"This is the most important thing you will ever learn. You are not allowed to speak until you figure it out."

Van blinked a couple of times, uncertain if he heard correctly.

"What?" he asked stupidly.

"No talking!" Ed barked and Van closed his mouth immediately. The alchemist crossed his arms and explained: "When my brother and I asked our Teacher to study under her, she left us on a deserted island with only a knife and gave us a month to-_ I said no talking!_" he pointed at Van's face threateningly when the teen's jaw dropped in surprise. "-to figure out what it means. Since I doubt there are any deserted islands in Xerxes, and I don't intend to drag you hundreds of miles to the west just to dump you on one, I decided to give you an entirely different exercise."

Van, since he couldn't speak, cocked his head in silent question.

"I'm sure you don't have problems with talkativeness. After all, slaves aren't allowed to speak unless they're ordered to, am I right?" Van nodded. "Well, the reason why I want you to abstain from talking is simple. I want you to _think_." Ed tapped his own forehead to emphasize his point. "Not just do 'every day thinking', I want you to learn how to _focus on thinking_. Until you figure out what 'One is all, all is one' means, you're going to do only that and nothing else. Also, you're exempt from all the other lessons, including sparring sessions."

The teen gaped at his teacher. He was exempt from the sparring sessions?! No way. Ed was joking, wasn't he? He enjoyed beating up his student too much for it to be true. This had to be some sort of a trick…

"Remember: until you figure it out, _not a word_ to me or anyone else. And you're not allowed to ask other people to help you." Then abruptly, Ed turned around and waved at him without looking as he left. "Good luck!"

Dumbfounded, Van watched him go and wondered what the hell just happened. Ed didn't give him any warning that he would be given a task like this. When he told him to come, he expected to be given another physical exercise or something. He never thought Ed would just give him some riddle and leave him to do whatever he liked, for how long he wanted.

But as the minutes passed, boredom crept into his mind and Van wondered just what he was supposed to _do_. It was too early for lunch, he wasn't hungry anyway. He had no chores. He couldn't go to the market because Ed had forbidden him to say a word to anyone. He knew Ed couldn't supervise him all day, but cheating didn't even cross his mind – it would mean he wasn't up to the challenge, and Van refused to admit defeat.

Quickly, he made up his mind. "One is all, all is one"? It didn't sound too hard. He was going to figure it out. And he was going to do it all by himself! He was going to show Ed just how smart he could be when he wanted to!

* * *

_WHAT THE __**HELL**__ DOES IT MEAN?!_

Van sat on the ground, drawing with frustration in the sand. He'd been thinking for _five hours straight _and he still had absolutely no idea what "One is all, all is one" was supposed to mean. He analyzed the sentence over and over again, but came up with nothing.

_It doesn't even make sense_, he thought angrily. _What does it refer to? What 'one'? What 'all'? Is it like 'one thing' and 'all kinds of things'? But one thing isn't all kinds of things! One thing is one thing and that's why it's called a thing, right? Or is it the other way around…? Gah, can't even make sense of my own thoughts anymore…_

Van laid on his back and stared at the cloudless sky. The days were still unbearably hot, but the nights had been becoming cooler lately. This summer passed faster than any other he recalled. One would think that with all the exercises Ed had put him through would make the time drag, but the opposite was true. Could that be because Van enjoyed learning alchemy? Or maybe because Edward was his teacher? He couldn't imagine studying the science under anyone else but the stubborn Fullmetal Alchemist. He wondered if he would feel the same with Roshan teaching him.

_What am I thinking_, he scoffed. _Master Roshan would __**never**__ teach a slave, at least not without a benefit for himself. The only person who would ever do something like that is… well, Ed._

Yes, his best and only friend, Edward Elric. After Ed revealed a glimpse of himself and his past a week ago, Van became aware of some new things about him. First, Edward possessed two distinct expressions of nostalgia. One when he remembered Alphonse, getting sad because of it (_but was it just sadness… or something else?_), another when he compared Van to his younger brother. And then, he looked a tiny bit happy. It was bittersweet happiness, but happiness nonetheless.

Van thought about it and decided that he didn't mind at all. It was true, he and Edward really looked like brothers – the reflection he had seen in the mirror, which stood now in the living room permanently, proved it. He supposed it would have bothered him a little if Ed had chosen him to be his friend solely for that reason, but the alchemist told him already that it wasn't the case. Ed freed him and took him in and taught him, but never treated him like a replacement for his late brother.

Another thing he noticed was how Ed, despite his loneliness, was utterly devoted to those he loved. Yes, Van knew since the beginning that Ed must have missed his family a lot. Yes, he admired the strength his teacher had shown, being left alone in the world. But only when Ed said those words:

"_I'm glad, honestly… That you remind me of him. Because that way, I won't forget. I will never forget."_

It was only then that Van truly realized it. Edward would do anything people he cared about; absolutely _anything_, and he would never abandon them. So, Van Hohenheim concluded – somehow, unbelievably – _he_ became one of those people too.

Van had been right. Edward was the very definition of a true friend.

_I can't let him down_, his furrowed his brow in determination. _One is all and all is one. I'm going to figure out what it means and become an alchemist. Then I'll work with Ed and help him take care of the gold debt he told me about… and maybe one day, I'll pay for everything he had done for me. Equivalent Exchange._

This idea provoked some other observations he hadn't considered before.

_For an alchemist, Ed doesn't care much about Equivalent Exchange. It's so strange… Losing a mother, a father and a brother, traveling to a different country all on your own… that's harsh. What happened? Why doesn't he have more friends? I bet he could befriend anybody if he tried… _A smile crossed his face …_as long as they don't call him short._

All of a sudden it occurred to him that until he solved the riddle, he wouldn't be able to bicker with Ed and the thought caused him to frown in displeasure. _That won't do. Somebody's got to tease him about his height! I hate seeing him sit around sulking… not to mention that his reactions are just too entertaining._

The sound of footsteps interrupted his musings and Van turned his head to see that the shorty himself had returned for him. He expected Ed to finally call him for lunch (his growling stomach informed him it way past the time), but the alchemist just smirked at him and left again.

Van watched him until he disappeared from sight, baffled by his teacher's unusual behavior. Ed wasn't going to talk to him either? That was… not exactly unexpected, he supposed, but it still surprised him.

_So I need to solve the riddle to speak with Ed at all?_ He wondered as he got up from the ground and followed Ed into the house. _I don't think I like this…_

When Ed said earlier that there wouldn't be any sparring sessions as he was solving the riddle, he thought it was more a reward than a punishment. But now, he was starting to change his mind. He had a hunch that Ed being quiet and avoiding any contact with him would quickly get on his nerves…

* * *

…_I hate this __**so, so much**_, Van thought bitterly on the tenth day.

Who would have thought that Ed could be so _persistent_? His teacher saw him only three times a day, never speaking a word to him, just showing up to make Van realize that it was meal time. And gods, Van was so sick of it. It wasn't just that he couldn't talk to anybody, rather that Ed was ignoring him and seemed completely fine, like Van didn't even exist.

He wanted nothing more but to shove the riddle down the alchemist's throat, he was so annoyed, but at the same time, he felt determined to figure it out by himself.

_I can do it_, he tried to reassure himself. _He said that he had a month to solve it, right? And it's been only a week and a half. I still have time._

It's just that he didn't _want_ to wait a month to talk with Ed again. Hell, he'd gladly have a sparring session with him at this point!

_One is all, all is one. Think, think, think, think!_

His head felt like it was going to burst, but he still couldn't understand. Such a simple phrase, yet it was driving him insane! Just **what** did it mean?

* * *

_That's __**it**__, I can't take it anymore_, Van determined as he paced in front of the mirror, frustrated beyond belief. _I've got to figure this out, and I need to do it __**now**__._

It was the twelfth day and he felt like he hadn't done any progress. So far, he had only concluded what "One is all, all is one" **didn't** mean. Currently he was willing to admit that he was desperate to find an answer, however, not just because he wanted to talk with Ed again.

Edward wasn't... well today.

It wasn't the usual strangeness that Van already got used to – no, that wasn't it at all. Ed was always upset at least a little bit, no matter how well he was hiding it, but today was different. The worst case of different.

In the morning, Van wasn't suspicious when Ed didn't come early to 'announce' breakfast time with his trademark smirk. He thought that the alchemist just got caught up in his work again. But as the sun crept higher and higher in the sky, the teen slowly became worried. Eventually he came to Ed's room and knocked on the door.

The only answer was silence.

Van, not surprised by the lack of response, opened the door without hesitation and peeked inside, fully expecting to see his teacher at his desk working furiously, totally lost to the world. What he _didn't_ expect was to find the room in absolute chaos, with papers and writing utensils laying on every possible surface. There was also a strong scent of oil in the air, although Van deemed it irrelevant – it was hard to pay attention to details like that when Ed curled up on his bed, his expression so lost and hopeless as if the very will to live had been drained from him. His face was grey like ash, dry but traces of tears where clear on the dirty cheeks. To sum it up, he appeared to be the embodiment of utter misery. He had never looked this bad, not even when he cried three weeks ago. Van's throat clenched painfully at the sight so he wouldn't be able to say anything, even if he tried.

As soon as Ed realized his presence, he calmly got up and without even a glance in his direction passed him, disappearing in the hallway, a glint of silver shining between the clenched fingers of his left hand. Van was seriously tempted to disobey his teacher and call after him, but he had a feeling that even if he did, it wouldn't do much. Ed made it clear the last thing he wanted right now was his company.

Still, he had to do _something_. Considering that they didn't communicate at all for almost two weeks, he had no clue what could have happened to cause this, much less how to help.

Van cursed mentally and fastened his pacing. _One is all, all is one. Dammit, think, Van Hohenheim! It's sounds so simple, so it probably is simple, right…? Unless… it's a trap and you're __**supposed**__ to think it's simple while it's not… _He stopped and rubbed his temple tiredly. Well, all things considered, Ed's exercise was working; he did more thinking in twelve days than he had done in the past twelve years.

He looked at his reflection, absorbing the features while scrutinizing his own thoughtful expression. _"The most important thing you will ever learn", he have said. It's got to do something with alchemy, right? But… alchemy's __main principle is 'Equivalent Exchange'…_

"Humankind can't gain anything without giving something in return," he whispered to himself what had been hammered into his brain over the months. "To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. This is the first and most important law of alchemy." _There's got to be a clue there… just what is it?_

His fingers trailed the cold, sooth glass.

* * *

Fifteen days.

Ed was better now, luckily. After he left that day he was gone for so long, Van actually started preparing to go into town to look for him. His test be damned, he couldn't let his friend stumble around the city, alone and in the dark, while he was like this. Something bad might have happened to Ed. Even with his fighting skills, Van sincerely doubted he was able to fend anyone off in such state of mind. But just as he headed towards the door, Edward himself showed up, soaking wet for some unfathomable reason.

"Hey…" he smiled weakly at him. At least it seemed to be an honest smile. "Sorry it took me so long…"

That was all he said. Before he headed straight to his room. An hour later, Van quietly sneaked in and much to his relief, the small alchemist was snoozing peacefully.

This event scared Van quite a bit though. He started thinking what would have happened if Ed didn't come back.

_I'd be lost. I wouldn't know what to do. I'd be lonely. It would hurt a lot. Ed's my only friend. I don't want to lose him. If something happened to him, I would never forgive myself that I couldn't have helped him…_

…_but…_

Van watched the city through his window. The weather was lovely today. A couple of clouds came, decorating the light turquoise sky with feather-like smudges. Ed had long informed him that clouds where just water, however he imagined reaching out for them and discovering they were soft under his fingers. A lone bird soared in his vision, making a hasty return to his nest on the nearby roof. An understanding gradually dawned on him.

…_the world would still be going,_ he realized with a slight surprise. _No matter what happens to us, everything else is going to remain just the way it is. The world is so big while we're so tiny and insignificant. All things… made out of smaller things…_

His eyes grew and he stood up with a cry: "I got it!" He ran out of his room, shouting excitedly. "Ed! I got it! Ed!"

Van burst into Ed's room. "I got it, Ed, I got it!" he exclaimed happily like a little kid.

"Hm?" Ed looked up from his work and put his chin on his fist. "You did? Well, let's hear it then."

The teen took a deep breath. "The 'all' means everything, the world. The 'one' means the other things. Like people. One is all because we're a part of the world, everyone. All is one because the world is made out lesser things – people included – and without them it wouldn't exist. All things are…"

"…connected," Ed finished for him, a proud expression on his face.

"Yeah," Van breathed out, his grin growing wider.

"Congratulations, Van. You passed." The alchemist's smile became teasing. "Took you long enough though."

"**What?**" Van looked at him indignantly. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?! You said it took _you_ a whole month to figure it out!"

"I never said it took me a whole month!" Ed laughed. "Al and I figured out what it meant before the time was up, but we couldn't leave the island before Teacher came back for us. It was a part of our survival training after all."

"I'm still pretty sure I did it faster than you!"

"_You_ didn't have to deal with extreme hunger at the same time. All I told you to do was to keep your mouth shut. Wasn't too hard, was it?"

"It was horrible! Do you have any idea how many times I wanted to call you a runt and _couldn't_? That was pure torture!"

"**WHAT!**" Ed jumped to his feet, red-faced. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A SPEC SO TINY IT COULDN'T BE SEEN UNDER A MICROSCOPE!"

"YOU, THAT'S WHO!" Van replied unintimidated. "And what's a microscope anyway?"

"Oh no, I am **not** telling you that, you empty-headed idiot!"

"IDIOT! I SOLVED YOUR STUPID RIDDLE IN HALF THE TIME YOU DID, SHORT STUFF!"

"DID **NOT**! AND I AM NOT SHORT, DAMMIT! I'M YOUR TEACHER AND YOU'RE GOING TO RESPECT ME, GOT IT?!"

"WELL, I JUST SPOKE THE TRUTH, DIDN'T I, _MASTER_?"

"THAT'S IT, HOHENHEIM! YOU, ME, SPARRING GROUND! **NOW!**"

Even when he ended up all covered in dirt and bruises barely an hour later, Van had absolutely no regrets.

* * *

Van Hohenheim thought Ed had been pushing him hard before he solved the riddle. He was proven wrong very quickly.

Immediately after he was made aware of what Ed called 'the ultimate truth of alchemy', his teacher decided it was high time for his mind to be trained at the same pace as his body, if not faster. In the following weeks, Van was taught Xerxesian alphabet, the periodic table, all kinds of symbols and structures used in alchemy and also – the basics of Ed's mysterious native language.

Ed explained to him that Amestrian had the same roots that Xerxesian had, but the language itself – especially spoken Amestrian – was a bit more complex. Some grammar structures were completely altered, making it very hard for the student to grasp. But Van was just as stubborn as determined and bit by bit, he learned and memorized everything.

It didn't take much observation skills to notice that Edward was immensely proud of him. Van started to catch his discrete, impressed looks more often and they filled him with warmth inside. It almost felt like… being a part of a family – something he never had. Admittedly, it was a strange, two-member family where a person barely a year older than him acted simultaneously as his mentor, big brother, best friend and at times, even father. Yes, a father. That one took Van longer to realize than the others, but after some consideration, he figured that if Ed was a few years older than him, he could easily picture him as one. How else to describe someone carefully watching over him, providing a home without demanding anything in return? Ed might have been just a teenager just like himself, but even with his predicable outbursts at his height being insulted or childish disgust of all kinds of milk (something Van really didn't understand at all), his skills, knowledge and melancholy made him seem a lot older most of the time.

He never mentioned it to Ed though. He had a feeling his teacher would either laugh at the idea, feel insulted and rant for hours at Van for insinuating that he was 'an old man'… or _worse_. Ed could become upset again, which was the last thing Van wanted.

Still… It was a strangely nice thought. Having a father. What was it like?

Van knew he shouldn't desire such things. But gradually his curiosity about the subject grew, until one day he gathered his courage and asked the unsuspecting alchemist at breakfast:

"Hey, Ed… What was your father like?" Van worded his question carefully.

Apparently it was a very lucky coincidence that Ed wasn't drinking at the time, because if his startled expression was anything to go by, he would have surely spit-taken.

"H-HUH…?!" He gaped, completely dumbstruck. _'Where did __**that**__ come from?'_ was written all over his face.

Van sighed. He had a feeling this wasn't a good idea, but he just couldn't help his need to know.

"I was just wondering. You remember your father, right? You said he… 'left'. But what was he like before that?"

Ed finally got over his shock and closed his mouth. Then he blinked and frowned.

"Why do you ask?" His tone was very cautious.

Van looked at his plate thoughtfully. "I'm curious, that's all." He took a bite of bread. "I was thinking what having a dad is like... since I never got to meet mine. But if you don't want to tell me, I understand."

Ed's eyes became wide in some realization.

"Um…" He shifted in his seat. Then he took a bite of his sandwich and chewed slowly, probably thinking over what to say. Finally, he swallowed and spoke: "I don't remember much from that time, to be honest. I was only four years old when… _that_ happened and my mom died two years later."

"So, you haven't seen him in… what, twelve years?" Van asked with slight disappointment. It seemed Ed didn't know what it was like to have a dad either.

"Not exactly." Ed looked very uncomfortable and he was avoiding eye contact. "I met him recently."

Van was surprised. "He's alive?"

Ed snorted. "Oh yes, he's very much alive." He took a sip of water from a glass. "Our 'reunion' was… well, it was really, really awkward. We met at mother's grave."

"Huh." Even Van had to admit that it presented a very awkward scenario. "What did he say?" Instantly, Edward's face darkened. Van quickly backpedaled: "You know what, never mind. I don't need to know…"

"No, it's fine." In spite of his words, Ed seemed tense. "What he said… it hurt, but there was some truth to it." His head lowered over the table, making it impossible for Van to see his expression as he continued to speak. "I didn't see it at the time, I was so angry with him. I mean, the father who abandoned us over a decade ago returns like nothing happened, like there's still something for him _to come back to_ even though our family had long been torn apart, what else was I supposed to feel? And he was acting just as cold and distant as I remembered him." A visible shiver ran through his shoulders. "I couldn't… I didn't know _how_ to _feel_. All this time I was mad at him for _not being there_, not just for me but for mom and Al too. She died waiting for him and he didn't come. Not even for her funeral! I hated him so much because when we needed him most, he **just**… **wasn't**… **there**!"

Ed's right fist punched the table at the last syllable, making all the dishes clatter. His glass of water, standing on the edge, fell off and shattered loudly, water and bits of glass spilling over the floor. Van flinched, but didn't say anything, guessing that it would be better to just listen and let Ed spill what he must have been keeping in for a _very_ long time.

"And then the bastard had the audacity to tell me that _I_ ran away! Like he had not been doing that for _years_! And that I acted like a child! And dammit, he – he left _again_!" Ed was seething so much it was starting to scare him. "He didn't even bother to say where he was going! Not that I cared. I was happy to get rid of him. I **was**! It's not like… it's not like I needed him anymore… not like I _ever_ needed him!" Even Van couldn't overlook the clear contradiction in Ed's speech, but he kept quiet. "I never wanted to see him again. But I did and-"

Suddenly all anger evaporated from Ed, his shoulders sank and his head fell even lower, almost touching the surface of the table. He was dead still for ten seconds, before he spoke again.

"He wasn't… He was nothing like I expected him to be." His voice was thick with some emotion Van yet again couldn't identify. "I thought… I just wanted to hate him, to have someone to blame for everything, but… I c-couldn't…" He buried his head in his hands. Van felt so awful seeing his friend in pain, but he knew it wasn't the time to comfort him. He just sat and listened. "Because I realized that he… he actually… **cared**. And now, _especially_ now… _Goddammit_ this is so freaking ironic it's not even funny…!" He took a deep breath. "Now I understand and I _can't_ hate him anymore. All this time I wanted to hate him because it was so much easier to blame someone else for my mistakes – but it's _nothing_ compared to-"

His voice broke and he couldn't talk anymore. He wasn't crying – at least he didn't seem to be, Van couldn't tell for sure with his hands covering his face – but it was too much for him.

Van quietly stood up, took his chair and sat next to Ed. Without hesitation, he gently grabbed his shoulders and pulled him into a hug.

Ed stiffened in surprise at first, even though it wasn't the first time, as apparently he hadn't been expecting this. Slowly but surely, he relaxed, melting into the compassionate embrace and wrapped his arms around his friend. His head on his shoulder, he murmured something in his native language.

"What was that?" Even with his basic knowledge of Amestrian, Van didn't have a clue what Ed just said. Although, he wasn't sure it was directed at him at all.

Ed sighed. "Nothing…"

Van didn't press the issue as something else caught his attention. He'd never held Ed as close as this, not even that one time when he cried – not that it bothered him. But it occurred to him that he hadn't touched Ed's right shoulder before and now that he did, there was something… _wrong_ with it.

Ed's shoulder didn't feel right – his whole arm didn't. Of course he'd noticed how stiff and hot it was compared to the other one (how could he _not_ notice), however, until now he didn't realize just how huge the difference was. His two hands were placed on his friend's back and the contrast was a bit shocking. Van's left palm could feel the warmth of skin under Edward's robe, the strong muscles beneath barely yielding, but it was undoubtedly flesh. His right hand though, what was under it, that couldn't be flesh. It was… he didn't know _what_ exactly, but it was hard, it was rigid and it felt just wrong – like it wasn't a part of Ed's body (his nose caught the scent of oil… again. What did Edward use oil for?). Van didn't dare to further examine the shoulder blade, although he could tell that the shape was off too. He wondered what could possibly had happened to Ed to cause something like this.

The teen opened his mouth to ask about it, then abruptly he changed his mind. He would ask someday – just not now. Ed didn't need to be questioned about his body, he needed a friend _just_ _to be there for him_. Besides, with the way Ed's past weighted on him, Van wasn't completely sure he _wanted_ to know.

Just as Van pressed his lips together in the silent decision, Ed shifted and pulled away. Van had been right – Ed didn't cry this time. His eyes were dry. But his expression…

"Thanks," Ed said with a ghost of a smile on his saddened face. "Sorry about this, I'm being so pathetic over something like that-"

"Pathetic?" Van repeated with disbelief. Never had the word crossed his mind when he thought of his teacher. Even in his most vulnerable moments, Edward Elric was the exact opposite of such term. "Ed, you're not pathetic!"

"Yeah, whatever…" The alchemist shrugged, but his tone was too bitter for it to be a convincing show of indifference. "It's not like I can't even _talk_ about this stuff without losing it…" Ed laughed humorlessly. Then he looked away. "I hate how weak I've become… especially around you…"

"But you are the strongest person I know!" Van exclaimed honestly. Upon Ed's doubtful look, he added: "Not just physically, you're strong on the inside too. 'To train the mind one must train the body', right? And I've never seen anyone who trains more than you!"

Ed smiled, _really_ smiled. "Thanks, Van."

The teen beamed, pleased to see his teacher acting more like himself.

"Sooo…." He looked down and noticed his foot was standing in a puddle of water, mixed with broken bits of glass. Good thing he didn't walk barefoot inside the house, it wouldn't have ended well.

"Oh." Ed kneeled down to examine the damage. "It'll be a quick repair. Although…" He lifted his gaze and met Van's, an idea shining brightly in his fiery-golden eyes. "Would you like to try fixing it yourself?"

Van gasped in surprise. This was the first time Ed offered him a chance to use alchemy himself. "You serious?"

"Sure!" Ed grinned. "If you manage to draw the array, I don't see why not." The light in his eyes turned into a mischievous glint. "As long as you remember that there's a difference between an oval and a circle, that is…"

"Hey!" Van crossed his arms indignantly. "I've been _practicing_, you know!"

"Suuure you have. Let's see it, Mr. Crushed Partridge Egg."

Van growled angrily and snatched the piece of chalk from Ed's extended hand. _You want a circle? I'll show you a __**circle**__!_

With newly-found determination, he crouched and began to draw in a dry spot next to the puddle. Ed watched his every movement, but instead of becoming nervous under the scrutiny, Van progressed faster – _I'm going to show him_, he thought, too busy to notice that his hands weren't shaking at all, or the lack of worry that he wouldn't get it on his first try.

After the circle was done, he looked it over and with great surprise, he observed no distortions or quivery lines. He glanced at Ed for confirmation. The Fullmetal Alchemist actually looked pleasantly surprised.

"Good job," he said, blinking twice to make sure his eyes were seeing correctly. "You actually did it. On your first go, too."

A grin spread over Van's face. "Yes!" He cheered, raising his hands in victory. "I knew it! I'm so awesome!"

Ed rolled his eyes. "Yeah, keep telling yourself that kid."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?!"

Ed chuckled in response, but Van didn't miss the proud glimmer in his eyes. He began explaining what kind of array was needed to fix this kind of glass. After the careful instructions and from the master-alchemist, Van began drawing and connecting the lines inside the circle. Fortunately, that part was much easier so be wasn't scared he'd mess it up and would have to start over. Fifteen minutes later, the array was ready – and so was Van, his eager hands waiting on the edge of the circle.

"Focus. Remember the three steps – Understanding, Deconstruction and Reconstruction. If you become distracted, there could be a rebound."

"Rebound, right." Van repeated obediently. "But it's not common, right? You said that there shouldn't be any rebounds in small transmutations like this…"

"True, there shouldn't be any harmful ones, but just because it won't chop off your limb doesn't mean you shouldn't be extra careful. Also, when you're inexperienced, you must _always_ take all possible risks into account – there's nothing more dangerous for an alchemist than underestimating the power of his own reaction."

Van paused, then looked at Ed.

"Rebounds can_ chop limbs off_?" he asked in mild shock. Ed hadn't told him that.

Ed frowned. "It's rarely the case, but like I said, you must take all possible risks into account. And I mean _all of them_." He lifted his hand in what seemed like an unconscious movement and rubbed his right shoulder. "I wouldn't let you do anything dangerous like that, but trust me – in alchemy, plenty of unpredictable things can happen, in the last moment you expect them to." He looked at Van very seriously. "That's why you never, under _any_ circumstance, perform a transmutation unless you thought everything through _and_ you're confident you know the limits of your array. Is that clear?"

"Y-yes sir!"

"Good. Let's get started, then."

Van directed his eyes onto his circle, his heart beating faster in his chest. This was it. His very first transmutation. Today, he was truly becoming _an alchemist_.

Focusing on the round, perfect shape of the glass before it had shattered, he focused his energy, calculating the ratios and elements just like Ed had taught him. Immediately he felt a distinct, unpainful tug in his gut and blood rushed in his veins with excitement. Blue sparks erupted from the circle and he had to use every bit of restraint he owned not to lose his grip over the reaction in his exhilaration.

He watched the bits of glass deconstruct one by one, then reconstruct together, forming a transparent cylinder. Sweat poured over his forehead but he paid in no mind, focused solely on his transmutation.

Finally, it was done and the light faded. Van was still for a moment longer, before he sat on his heels and exhaled deeply.

"It worked," he said in a daze. "It really worked."

"Quite nicely, too," Ed agreed, gently picking up the newly-transmuted object to examine it up close. "No transmutation marks."

"Really?"

"See for yourself."

The teacher handed the product of a first transmutation back to his student, who grabbed it with his slightly trembling hands. Ed was right, it looked perfect. Round and thin and smooth, there were no visible defects. Van looked in awe.

"I did it, didn't I…? I actually performed a transmutation. I'm an alchemist." He turned to Ed with a grin. "I'm an alchemist!"

Ed grinned back and patted him on the shoulder, the conversation they had before all forgotten now. Van thought it had to be the greatest day of his life.

He really was an alchemist now.

* * *

Those who had known him as slave number Twenty Three, they wouldn't recognize the young man who strode confidently through the market.

His hair was nicely pulled back together, a couple of stray bangs still hanging in front of his face but in a more dignified way than in the past. His robes, even if mid-class citizen, were new and clean. His stature and posture were now impressive for his age – the once slim, tall body became muscled over the months of hard training. The dust that had been always covering him due to sweeping was gone, revealing a handsome face and eyes shining with knowledge and insatiable curiosity. Twenty Three was no more. He was now Van Hohenheim, a free man, a scholar, an alchemist, the student of Fullmetal Alchemist, one of the greatest – if not _the_ greatest – alchemists that had walked the earth.

He was a person with a bright future ahead of him, one who eagerly awaited it.

"Good morning, ma'am," he greeted the vendor he recalled to be the very same woman who was selling pomegranate soup the day he met Ed.

"Hello, dear boy," she smiled friendlily but there was no recognition in her eyes. It was only the testament of how much Van had changed over the months.

"No pomegranate soup today?" he asked with a wink.

"No, I'm afraid not…" she said a little surprised, scrutinizing him in confusion. After a long moment, she blinked. "I've seen you before, haven't I?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"I am not sure I remember where, though… I'm sorry, dear boy, age does affect your memory sometimes."

"My friend and I came to you once and bought some pomegranate soup," he reminded her. "You mistook us for brothers."

"Oh!" She put a hand to her mouth in understanding. "I remember now! You're Ed's freedman, aren't you?"

"Ed's?" Van repeated curiously. He was surprised that the woman remembered the name after all this time. Also, there was strange familiarity in the way she spoke his name without hesitation.

"Yes, isn't he just wonderful?" she smiled warmly. "I've seen him twice since then, actually."

"You have?"

"Of course! And what a generous person he is! He asked me how was my business going and I told him about my daughter, Caiya. My poor, sweet child, she already has so much on her head with raising two kids practically on her own – her husband is always so away, although I'm sure he doesn't want to be. Caiya is a florist, you know. She grows the most beautiful flowers in all of Xerxes, in my opinion, but her business had been going slow for a while. When I told Ed – gods bless his soul – do you know what he did?"

"What?"

"He went to her shop immediately and bought almost half of it! Can you believe it?"

Van stared at her. Even _he_ didn't think Ed would do something random like that. "He did? But… what have he done with all the flowers? He never brought any back home."

"I don't know. All I know that Caiya and I are in his debt. I insisted on paying him back somehow, and you know what he told me? 'Don't mention it, ma'am, it's nothing really.'"

"That does sound like him," Van mused, while thinking: _Seriously, __**a half of a flower shop**__? What did he do with the flowers? Ed doesn't seem to be the sentimental type, but I'm pretty sure he didn't just throw them away…_

"And that's not the only thing he did," the vendor continued. "Have you heard of Gidalush? He used to be a chef in the royal palace for a while. They fired him after he gave food to a starving Xingnese traveler for no charge."

"That's too bad…"

"I know! How is that fair? I'm sure I would have done the same thing, but they threw him out and he was jobless. But I heard that about three weeks ago, one of the His Majesty's councilmen hired him. Any guesses who's responsible for that?"

The teen's eyes widened slightly. "No way."

"Yes, it was him again! I only know about his involvement because Gidalush's father is a good friend of mine. But I also heard some interesting rumors going around… about a dangerous mugger caught by 'a mysterious individual', a ruined house miraculously rebuilt, a scamming trader exposed… People don't believe me, but I have a feeling Ed's behind all of those as well."

Van was overwhelmed. He had no idea… Ed never told him any of this. Sure, he was gone almost every day for a couple of hours to meet Roshan and all, but he never suspected Ed to be doing things like that while away and never mention them to him. It wasn't like Ed was too shy or modest to brag about his achievements – he had told him about the time he defeated a group of bandits with unhidden glee.

Although, now that he thought about it…

_Ed never made a big deal out of it. He always acted like it was nothing. "It wasn't that hard, there were only five of them"… yeah, right. And I bet that he bought 'only' a half of a poor woman's store, 'only' found a ruined man a job at the home of one of the most influential people in the country, 'only' got a dangerous criminal arrested, 'only' fixed some people their house with alchemy…_ He shook his head in disbelief.

"You're right," he said aloud. "He is incredible, isn't he."

"I bet you know better than me, don't you," she smiled at him. "I remember you saying he bought you for a talent of gold and gave you freedom for nothing in return."

"Yeah… And not just that. I actually live in his house now. He's teaching me how to read and write and… he…" His eyes became distant as he thought about everything Ed had done for him. And he wasn't the only person he had helped, it seemed. It only made him admire his teacher more. "I can't even begin to describe how much I owe him. But he doesn't want any gratitude."

"I wonder who his family is," the woman said thoughtfully. "I know many people in the city, but I've never heard about him before… He has to be of royal blood, hasn't he?"

"His family…" Van sighed sadly. "His family is all dead. Except for Ed's father, but if I understood correctly he's gone off to somewhere far away and won't be coming back for him."

The vendor gasped in horror. "No…!" Van nodded slightly to confirm the tragic truth. "I can't believe this… But… I guess it makes sense, after what he said that one time…" she trailed off uncertainly. Seeing Van's inquiring look, she continued with slight hesitation: "I wasn't planning on telling anyone about this, but since you're his close friend, I guess it won't hurt. You see, I bumped into him a couple of weeks ago. I didn't even recognize him at first, he was all wet from top to bottom." Something stirred in the teenager's memory. "I asked him what happened but he didn't want to tell me. I offered him my shawl to at least dry his face. Eventually he said that he jumped into the river."

"What?" Van said incredulously. "He _jumped_ into the river?! Why?"

"That's exactly what I asked. He mumbled something under his nose that he 'just went for a swim' or something, but I didn't believe him. I invited him to come to my house to dry off, but he seemed to be in a hurry. Said something about being late. But before that, I heard him muttering… I don't know what exactly, I didn't understand most of it. Something about 'it's all my fault, couldn't keep the promise' and things about his brother. I thought he was talking about you at first, but then I remember that you're not really related, are you? I admit you could have fooled me, you two look more alike than most siblings I've seen…" Realizing she was getting off topic, she shook her head firmly and finished: "Still, he looked really sullen that day. I was worried about him."

He remembered it. It was clear to him like yesterday. It was the twelfth day since he Ed had given him the riddle. Ed disappeared for an entire day and he was worried sick about him.

_He jumped into the __**river**__? What the hell?_ He rubbed his forehead. _I guess that explains why he was wet. But I don't understand… why would he even…?_ A feeling of dread slowly filled his stomach. _No, no way… it's not possible…_

"Thanks for telling me," he spoke not looking at her anymore. An icy fear spread in his insides and he knew he couldn't stay here a minute longer. "I… I need to go. I have to talk to Ed."

The woman smiled approvingly. "You do that, dear boy, and please tell him hello from me and Caiya."

"Sure thing," he said quickly and left the market, dark thoughts buzzing in his head.

* * *

"Van, you're back! You got the ham?" Ed greeted him, cutting the bread for their breakfast.

Van shook his head. "No, sorry. I need to talk to you."

"What?" The alchemist looked up at him in surprise. "Wait, what happened?"

The teen walked over to the table and leaned on it. He took a deep, calming breath before turning to his teacher.

"I met someone one the market. A friend of yours."

"A friend?" A confused frown creased Ed's forehead.

"Yes, and we talked for a bit." He pierced the alchemist with a glare and cut straight to the chase. "She told me you jumped into a river."

Ed parted his lips in shock and stood still for a moment.

"Ed," Van strained out, struggling to keep his composure. "Why did you do something **stupid** like that? Don't you know how dangerous Euphra is? You're lucky we're still in the dry season, you could have _drowned_!"

Edward closed his mouth and turned away with a scowl.

"It's none of your concern," he said angrily.

"Like hell it isn't!" Van snapped. "Tell me, did you do it willingly? Did you jump into the river _on purpose_?"

"So what if I did?" Ed asked challengingly.

"Why would you do that?!"

"I said, it's none of your damn business!"

"You are my friend and apparently you tried to kill yourself – of course it's my business!"

"I didn't- I wasn't-! I could never do that!"

"So why the heck did you jump, Ed?!"

"BECAUSE I FELT LIKE IT, OKAY!" he screamed, leaning into his face. "I knew how to save myself! I didn't die!"

"But you still jumped, you idiot! You could have died!"

"But I didn't!"

"What if you _did_? Did you think for a moment what I would have done if I found out that my best friend killed himself and I didn't prevent it?!" Van yelled, momentarily shocking Ed into silence. "For the rest of my life I would be blaming myself, that I didn't help you, just because of some dumb _test_! You have no idea how worried I was, do you? You looked like a dead man walking that morning and you left without telling me where to or why! Were you planning on killing yourself in secret so I wouldn't be able to stop you? You think I don't care about you? Didn't you think about me at all? How could you be so selfish?!"

"_**You're the only reason I couldn't do it, you moron!**_"

The world was dead still for the moment. The two golden-haired teens stared at each other, both startled by the words that had been said.

"Damn…" Ed interrupted the silence. "I wasn't supposed to tell you this."

"What?" was all Van managed to say.

"I… I'm sorry. It's just… I…" Ed clenched his teeth in indecision.

"What do you mean, I'm the only reason?"

Ed shot him a wounded, desperate look, silently begging for Van to drop this. But it was too late for those words to be taken back.

"I don't understand…" Van grabbed his head to process this. "So if it wasn't for me waiting for you to come back… you would…?"

The alchemist took a sharp breath and quickly shook his breath. "Van, listen." His voice was hoarse. "I would _never_ do that to you. I made a promise to teach you alchemy and I intend to keep it. Just because I…"

"Do you _wish_ to die, Ed?" Van interrupted him with a terrified whisper.

Ed flinched violently. "I…"

Van stared at his friend like he was seeing him for the first time and honestly, he felt like he was. This unintended confession showed Ed in a whole different light. He had thought he understood Ed's hurt and sadness to an extent, but apparently he didn't. He heard stories about people taking away their own lives… But those people were mad, completely and utterly insane, sick to the point that they couldn't control their actions. However Ed wasn't crazy. He strong, vibrant, brilliant, wise, kind-hearted… How could _he_ wish for death? Why wouldn't he want to live? _Why?_

Finally, Ed's broken voice interrupted the silence.

"I don't want to die…" Van perked, listening to him with a ray of hope shining through the darkness of his frightened confusion. "But living… _hurts_ so damn much." Ed pressed his eyes closed, looking like he was in pain.

Van wasn't sure what to say. He knew he had to say _something_ though. "It doesn't have to," he tried.

Ed sighed. "I know."

"Ed, you can talk to me when you're hurting, okay? I… I may not understand everything, but I'll try. I promise," Van said awkwardly. He didn't know how to deal with emotional stuff – he only wanted to help Ed. To fix the shattered pieces, like the glass he transmuted for the first time.

The alchemist opened his eyes and attempted to smile at him, but it looked more a grimace than a smile. "I'm really sorry, Van. I don't think it would help."

"Is it because you miss your brother?" he asked quietly. "Because he meant so much to you?"

Ed's expression twisted with pure, uncensored grief. He covered his eyes with his left hand.

"It's not that I just miss him, Van. It's my fault he's dead. _It's all because of me._"

Van forgot to breathe for a moment. Suddenly, all pieces of the puzzle came together, everything became clear. The deep, dark, unidentifiable emotion that was always lurking behind Ed's eyes, the expression of sadness that never quite left him, his painful nostalgia, the broken fondness that could be heard every time Alphonse's name fell from his tongue. Suddenly, it all had a name.

Guilt.

Ed had been living in guilt all this time, drowning in it, never free of it, even in his most carefree moments. All his smiles, the mask he had put on his face, their only purpose was to hide it from him. From the stories Ed told, Van knew how much he cared about his brother. They used to be inseparable. If Ed was to blame for his only brother's death…

It made so much more sense now. Van had a vague idea now why Ed would welcome death, something he couldn't comprehend at all just a moment earlier. This wasn't something Van could understand, never having killed anyone in his life. Especially an innocent person.

But, he refused to believe that Ed would intentionally hurt his own brother in any way. Ed told him himself – Alphonse had been kind and caring and smart… and Ed loved him fiercely. This had to be a mistake, or an accident… or something.

"No." The calm, confident tone of his voice perhaps surprised Van himself more than Edward. "I don't believe it. It couldn't be your fault."

Ed peeked through his fingers. "Van…"

"You think after months learning from you I haven't learn anything about _you_? You're not that kind of person. You couldn't have hurt your brother. Not on purpose."

Ed lowered shook his head slowly. "On purpose or not, it's still my fault. I was supposed to protect him, but I failed him. I'm… I'm a sinner, Van."

"Sinner?" Van actually laughed at the claim. "Ed, I don't know if you're aware, but I just came back from the market hearing the old lady sing praises about you. You fixed somebody's house. You helped a man who lost his job. You bought flowers from a woman who had trouble selling them. You helped catch a mugger who's been terrorizing the streets."

As he spoke, the alchemist slowly lifted his head, a blank expression on his face.

"You bought a slave and set him free," Van added, smiling at him softly. "You gave him a home and made him realize what it means to be free."

"Which I did for selfish reasons," Ed quietly murmured to himself, but he still caught it.

"Selfish? Ed, you're not selfish. You're amazing. You're a hero."

"Hero?" Edward snorted almost angrily. "Yeah, right. I am not a hero. I'm just a human. A pathetic, insignificant human. I can't even save people who matter most to me. Who I'm supposed to be able to save."

"One is all, all is one," Van stated calmly, causing Ed to blink in surprise. "Isn't that 'the most important lesson you ever gave me', my teacher? All human beings have flaws, sins. Everybody has them buried in their hearts, but they're necessary. They make us human and learning how to live with them is how we win against them."

Ed was completely taken aback by having his own words thrown into his face like that. Taking advantage of his surprise, Van stepped closed and enveloped him in a powerful hug.

"I can tell that to you ten times a day," he whispered into his ear "Every day, to the rest of your life, until you believe me because it's true. You're not a bad person, Ed. You're the greatest person I ever got to know and you're my best friend."

It seemed his reassurance was working because soon Ed returned gesture, shivering a bit.

"Just promise me…" Van couldn't stop himself from speaking, "Please, promise me you won't be thinking about death anymore. I may not know your brother, but I'm pretty sure if he were here right now, he would tell you to live and be happy. You can try for him, can't you?"

Finally, Ed gave in. With a sob, he buried his face in Van's shoulder and wrapped his arms around him forcefully.

"I know, I know…" he cried. "A-and I'm t-trying, I r-really am. It's just s-s-so hard sometimes…!"

"You're doing just fine," Van comforted him softly, ignoring the mysterious stiffness of Ed's right arm. "Just no more jumping into rivers, okay? Or you'll be the death of me."

Ed laughed through the tears. "S-sure thing. I feel l-like our roles are re- reversed, y-you know. I'm supposed to- to lecture you about s-stupid th-things. Idiot."

Van rolled his eyes. "My thoughts exactly, pipsqueak."

"S-stop calling me that." Despite the anger in his voice, Ed didn't pull back.

"Stop calling me idiot."

"No p-promises."

* * *

Three days later, in the middle of the night…

"Van. Van! Wake up!"

Slowly, Van resurfaced from the depths of his peaceful slumber. The teen rubbed his eyes sleepily and sat up. "Huh? Ed?"

"Van, I don't have much time, I need you to listen to me carefully."

The urgent tone of his voice woke him up instantly. "What is it? What's going on?"

Ed was dressed in clothes Van hadn't seen before. They were entirely black, tightly covering his hands and feet, slim against his body unlike robes. On his head, there was something that looked like a bag that revealed nothing except his eyes. Van blinked at the get-up with confusion. If it wasn't for the voice he would have no idea this was Ed.

"I didn't think it'd be so soon," Ed spoke in a hurry. "I thought I would have time to explain things to you before it happened, but there isn't any time left. I need to leave now but I hope- no, I _will_ come back, alright? But, just in case I don't-"

"Wait, what?!" Van leaned forward, becoming scared now. "Ed, where are you going?"

"I'm going to the palace. Now-"

"The _royal_ palace? Why are they calling you to the palace in the middle of the night?"

"They're not."

"They're-" Only now he understood the meaning of Ed's clothes. "No way. Are you-?"

"Breaking in – yes. Is it safe – no, of course it isn't. Is it necessary – what do you think, I'm not doing this for fun. Although I admit sneaking past the guards can be quite entertaining sometimes, but that's hardly the point-"

"Why the hell are you going to break into the palace _in the middle of the night_?!"

"It's not important, long story and we don't have the time right now. If something happens to me, the money is in my room. You can take all of my research notes if you want – I taught you some Amestrian so I think you'll get it. Just remember it's coded and it's not easy to break my codes. With everything you've learned you're capable of learning more about alchemy on your own."

Van was terrified right now. He couldn't believe this was happening. "Ed, you can't!"

"Sorry, I have to."

"Let me come with you then!"

"Are you crazy? I've been making preparations for months to plan this break-in. You don't even have the floor plans of the palace memorized. Sorry, kid, but that's not an option. You're staying."

Van wanted to protest, but Ed put his hand on his mouth and said sternly:

"Look, it's not a suicide mission, so calm down. I'm only telling you just in case. I didn't want you to wake up and think I abandoned you in case I couldn't come back. If everything goes according to plan – which I hope it does – we're going to have a new roommate by tomorrow."

_Roommate?_ Van had officially no freaking clue what was going on.

"I doubt you'll like him, but hopefully you'll get along. Now, I really need to go. I'll see you in the morning, got it? Stay safe."

Before Van could utter a word Ed was gone. The teen ran after him.

"_**Ed!**_" he yelled on the top of his lungs, not caring if he woke up the whole neighborhood. "_**EDWARD!**_"

When he reached the door, Edward had already disappeared in the impenetrable darkness of the starless night.

"Ed…" he whispered, aware that it was too late.

_What for all the gods' mercy are you doing, Ed?_

* * *

Quite predictably, Van didn't go back to sleep that night. He paced nervously around the house, trying to figure out _just what the hell Ed was thinking, breaking into the royal palace, it sounded like he'd been planning this for a while – what in the name of all things holy was going on!_

It'd been obvious Ed didn't hold much respect for authority, but this was pure insanity. The punishment for such crime was death. If Ed was caught… no, he couldn't even think about it.

_Calm down, Van. Ed is a skilled fighter, right? And a powerful alchemist. He took down five men singlehandedly! He can handle a couple of guards if something goes wrong, can't he?_

He sincerely hoped so. To think they had the confrontation about Ed pulling off dangerous stunts only a couple of days ago. And he had thought that jumping into a river was bad…

_Please, please come back safely… you crazy alchemist._

It was just before the dawn when he heard Ed's voice at the door.

"Alright, we're here. Remember what we talked about. One word out of line and I swear I won't hesitate to kill you on the spot."

"Your insatiable thirst for violence, even though it's purely verbal, is truly delightful Edward Elric," came an amused response.

Van froze at the door, frowning. Whose voice is that? It sounded strange. It seemed to be muffled by something and he couldn't tell if it belonged to a male or a female.

"…However," the voice continued "We both know that's an empty threat by this point."

"Alright then. I'll lock you up in a metal chest and throw it into the river instead. That would work just as fine. I know from experience how fast and nicely heavy things sink in there."

Van, too curious to eavesdrop anymore opened the door.

"Ed?" He smiled in relief when he saw the familiar silhouette at the doorstep. "You're back!"

"Yeah, we made it," Ed smiled back. His head was no longer covered, and there was a large bundle of cloth in his hands.

The teen blinked and looked around. "We?"

"You didn't inform him of my arrival?" The strange voice spoke again, but Van couldn't detect its source. There wasn't anyone in front of him except Ed. "Really now, Fullmetal Alchemist, you hurt my feelings."

Ed rolled his eyes and stepped inside. "I did, I just didn't tell him who you were."

"Very well. I suppose an introduction is in order." Van kept looking around, confused as to where the voice was located. It seemed to be coming from Ed, but the alchemist had his mouth closed and it didn't sound anything like him. "Would you mind telling me your name first, young man? I must have asked Edward a hundred times by this point but he never told me."

"And for a good reason." Ed muttered.

"Yes, well… Young man?"

"My name's Van Hohenheim... But who are you? _Where_ are you?"

Ed sighed and removed the cloth in his arms with one hand. Underneath it was… a flask. A round, glass flask with two tubes, both blocked with plunges at the ends, similar to the ones Van had seen in Roshan's laboratory as he used to sweep there. Inside the transparent container was a black… Thing. He didn't know how else to describe it. The 'Thing', it appeared to be floating inside the flask. Van watched without fear, but he had a weird feeling about this 'Thing'.

"Van, meet the Dwarf in the Flask…" Ed said slowly. "The Homunculus."

A big eye with red iris opened and the 'Thing' looked back at him with curiosity.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Cliffhangers. They're the loveliest thing :3**

**Good news, everyone: the next chapter of "Harry Potter and the Alchemist Brothers" is coming SOON! And by SOON I mean really soon. The soonest I can. I was writing these two things at the same time and it just so happened I finished this one first, but I'm **_**almost**_** done with Chapter 10. I'm not going to apologize for the delay, I told you my reasons and I really couldn't do anything sooner. Sorry. (Darn, I just said I wasn't going to apologize! Well, whatever…)**

**I'm so glad I finally finished Van's point of view. I know you're probably thinking: "What the hell is going on?! Why is the Homunculus there?!" Too bad – that was my intention xD This is the longest chapter so far but honestly, I'm just as surprised as you are. I promised the next chapter would be "A Flashback" so I had to wrap everything up in one go… it turned out much longer than I thought it would. Well, I hope you're happy, with all your lovely reviews I think you'll enjoy a longer chapter :)**

**Thank you for all the support, you guys are awesome! Please review, add to your favorites, follow and check my other stories! But most importantly – read on and enjoy.**

**And Happy Birthday to Whoever's Birthday It Is Today! :D**


	8. A Flashback

Ed wasn't naive.

He may have been merely sixteen years old, however he had experienced and suffered more than most people during their entire lifetime. One of the things that the harshness of his life had taught him, was to be extremely careful where he placed his trust. During his years as a State Alchemist, not for a moment had he forgotten that if the truth about their past was exposed, he and Alphonse would have been locked up, used as tests subjects or get a death sentence from the military. Sometimes, it was for the best to keep others in the dark, even if they were friends – that being the reason why he never bothered to write to Winry and Granny. They were better off not knowing all the dangers he constantly faced. Overall, it shouldn't come as a surprise that he was extremely wary about keeping his secrets.

So it only makes sense that even as Edward made a deal with the Homunculus, he didn't trust him one bit. After all… who would trust the _murderer_ of everyone he loved and cared about?

* * *

_Central Headquarters, Amestris, April 1915 – The Promised Day_

* * *

"_Playtime ends here._"

Just as Ed swung his automail arm to strike Pride, suddenly, something painfully wrapped around him. Fullmetal Alchemist's eyes widened and a surprised yell escaped his mouth as he was pulled back. Pride – also known as Selim Bradley – bared his teeth with glee, the wicked grin only partly covered by one hand to keep his face from slowly falling apart.

Ed's lunges screamed in protest when his entire body was slammed into the ground, _hard_. He growled in primal anger seeing the same thing happen to Al, Teacher, even the Colonel. The Flame Alchemist's face was frozen in a fearful expression, but Edward wouldn't blame him. Not only had Mustang been dragged through the Gates mere moments ago against his own will, he didn't know where he was and couldn't see what was happening to him. Not that knowing these things made Ed feel any better.

"Time for you all to get to work," said Father after his previously shapeless body formed a head and a mouth to speak with. The mouth was stretched in the same cruel grin that Pride's shadows always possessed. "_The time_ has come."

It took Fullmetal a second to notice how Father had positioned the four of them around himself. This monster was going to use them, for whatever he'd been plotting all this time, and it was happening _right not_. Ed frantically attempted to break free, but the hold of Father's clutches was too strong.

"Have you all ever thought of this planet as one life form?" Father suddenly spoke to them, his voice sending chills down Edward's spine. "…Well, perhaps it would be more accurate to call it a system rather than a life form. A system that records a tremendous amount of information from the Universe, which is incomparable to the tiny amount that each of you humans possess. If one were to open that Gate, how much power do you suppose they would gain?" He looked down at them with his huge, monstrous eye. "Ever thought of it?"

Ed couldn't withhold his gasp. So _that_ was the Homunculi's plan.

"Using these human Sacrifices, I'm going to open that Gate," Father proclaimed. "Right here, right now!"

"So _that's_ the center!"

Seemingly out of nowhere, a familiar person appeared. He was a young man with long black hair tied in a ponytail, dressed in black clothing. His arms and hands (or should it be claws) were covered in lustrous-grey skin, contrasting the pale complexion of his Xingnese face.

Selim started in surprise. "Greed!"

"The center of the world belongs to me! The world is mine!" Greed shouted in triumph and slashed Father's head through, tearing him to pieces.

Black, liquid-like mass splashed and flowed over the concrete, the horrifying eyes and grins disappearing in the revolting goo.

"He… did it…?" Ed whispered in disbelief.

For a moment, it really seemed like Greed had won. Then suddenly, the chilling voice spoke again:

"I knew you'd come, Greed, my son." Another evil grin formed in the dark mass, surrounding Greed along with several scary eyes. "You're the avarice that was born from me after all. It's only natural that you'd want everything I want."

The almost-fluid back substance moved away from surprised Greed, taking all the Human Sacrifices with it. Hohenheim finally emerged from the mass, coughing harshly but paying no mind to his pain. In an instant the Xerxesian used his Philosopher Stone, causing an explosion around Father, but the Homunculus only laughed at such feeble attempt. Any efforts to escape from the remaining Sacrifices were no more effective, Edward included.

"The _true_ center of the world…" Father said as he slammed his hand down on the table, standing next to the chair situated in the middle of the room. There was a strange board on it, with small figures placed on the edge of a transmutation circle. "...is right _here_!"

Red light erupted from the circle, blinding them in its brilliance.

It was too late, Ed realized in horror.

"_Damn you…!_" Hohenheim cursed viciously.

An eye with grey iris opened over the stomach of each of the Human Sacrifices. Ed screamed in terror at the familiar sensation while creepy black hands came springing out from his Gate. The same happened with all five of them, the alchemists screeching as the hands surrounded the Homunculus, creating a surge of energy. Somewhere in the background, Ed could vaguely hear Greed's and May's screams, along with Father's sickly exhilarated words:

"_Yes!_ Let the Gates fight each other! _Repel one another!_ Oh, Such an immense amount of energy! I'm almost unable to hold it down by myself! And with this this power, I shall open the Gate of the planet!"

* * *

The alchemic reaction traveled around Amestris with light's speed, blood red flash surrounding the country. Demonic hands sprouted from the ground everywhere, capturing the souls of every human being inside the nation-wide transmutation circle, tearing them away from their bodies.

Then, an enormous Gate appeared above the ground and opened slowly, facing the above. Giant fingers wrapped around the edge of it and the Homunculus stood up, a terrifying scream coming from his throat as he reached for the sky.

"**God! Respond to my soul! Come!**"

Another Gate appeared, right between the Earth and the Moon. Slowly, the doorway opened, revealing an eye with multiple rings within the gray iris. The Eye of Truth.

Black hands like vines fell down to the Earth, allowing the Homunculus to grab them.

"**That's right, come!**" The monster's voice thundered as he pulled desperately. "**I shall no longer be chained down by you! I shall drag you down to the earth and make you a part of me!**"

Gradually, the Gate lowered, eventually passing through him. There was an explosion of power that could be seen from miles away, before total darkness and silence came over – now dead – country of Amestris.

* * *

Izumi was the first to get up. She coughed, then checked her stomach, but the Eye of Truth was gone. The others stood up as well, the Colonel swaying as he did, disoriented by his lack of sight.

"What happened…?" he asked hoarsely. "Is everyone alright?"

Before they could answer him, an unfamiliar voice had spoken:

"A job well done… my dear Sacrifices."

Hohenheim gasped in shock, staring at the figure now sitting in Father's chair. He looked like a normal young man, twenty-one or so, but there was an aura of wrongness surrounding him. He had long blonde hair, falling loosely on his bare shoulders and muscular stomach. His face, with sharp chin and piercing golden eyes, was absolutely expressionless.

"You actually did it…!" Hohenheim took a step back, not able to conceal his shock.

The young man (or could such cold creature be called a man at all?) didn't even blink.

"Yes," he said calmly, devoid of any emotion. "I've obtained God."

"'_God_', you say?!" Ed snarled in disbelief. "Cut the bull-!"

Hohenheim cut him off: "It's possible."

Ed whipped his head around. "H-huh?!"

"It is, unfortunately," the Western Sage confirmed. "If you're in possession of a tremendous amount of energy, that is."

"Energy…?" Another gasp escaped him when he understood. "The Philosopher Stone!"

"You're joking!" Alphonse said shakily. "You mean, everyone has already been turned into a Philosopher Stone?!"

"Just how many lives were lost…?" May Chang whispered.

Mustang gritted his teeth in anger. "There are roughly fifty million people in this nation." _Or should it be '__**were in this nation**__'_, passed through everybody's minds.

Father's face may have been human now, but with his merciless expression, there was nothing human about it. It was a face of a monster who had no regret over what he had done.

"Why?!" Al yelled at the Homunculus, unable to keep down his rage. Ed was right behind him:

"What do you even _**need**_ this worthless energy _for_?! What's worth sacrificing so many people, you bastard?!"

They didn't really expect an answer, but they still received it.

"I'm going to become a perfect being," Father informed them casually, sounding almost dismissive. "To achieve that, I must start at the Beginning. The _very_ Beginning."

"The beginning...?" Ed repeated, not understanding.

Hohenheim made a chocking noise and his expression became one of pure horror.

"Dad, what is he talking about?" Al asked fearfully, knowing too well he wouldn't like what they were about to hear.

"He wants to go back in time…" Hohenheim's voice was laced with icy dread. "When the world was created, to bend the entire Universe to his will."

"What?!" Ed and Al shouted.

"But that's impossible…!" Mustang insisted, but with not-so-much confidence in his strained voice.

They were interrupted when suddenly something…. pulsated. That was the only way to describe it: a pulse of energy cut through the air, making everything come to a halt.

"What is this…?" For the first time since he got his new body, Father's face changed into an expression of surprise.

Ed turned to Hohenheim and saw that the man was smirking.

"What have you done?!" Father snarled angrily at the Xerxesian.

Hohenheim squared his shoulders, all traces of his previous shock gone. "Counteroffensive. I had positioned my friends, my Philosopher Stones, all across Amestris. They shall rip the souls out of the Stone inside you, and return them to their rightful bodies!"

Hope flared inside Ed's chest. So it wasn't over yet!

However, the Homunculus wouldn't stand passively and let that happen. "You've tried to stand in my way one too many times, Hohenheim!" Father knew he had to act quickly, before Hohenheim's 'counteroffensive' could activate. He looked at Selim. "Pride."

Selim grinned and sent shadows in Hohenheim's direction.

"You have served your purpose, my Sacrifices. Now you are no longer of any use to me."

"Dad!"

"Hohenheim!"

Everybody rushed forward, too focused on the attack to notice a shadow sneaking at them from the opposite direction.

"Alphonse, watch out!" May screamed, a moment too late.

A blood-chilling, metallic noise made them all freeze. Ed's head slowly turned to the side, not fully convinced if his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

Al's armor was standing still, one arm stretched out in Hohenheim's direction. A single shadow, formed into a blade, was precisely piercing the middle-collar through the back of the suit, sticking out on the other side. The place where the blood seal was located.

So swiftly that Ed's eyes were unable to follow, the shadow retracted, leaving the armor to collapse like a puppet with cut strings. May screeched loudly.

"What's going on?" Mustang grabbed Izumi's shoulder forcefully. "What happened?!"

"Al's…" Izumi's words got caught in her throat from shock.

Ed didn't move, didn't speak, didn't _think_. He was so stunned his body wouldn't respond to any command. His brain failed to process that this was really happening. The only thing he felt was numb.

The first person to properly react... was Hohenheim. His normally collected features abruptly twisted into an expression of pure rage.

"Nobody," he could barely speak. His body trembled with anger. "NOBODY TOUCHES MY SONS!"

Running forward, he released a powerful alchemy blow directly at Selim. Pride shouted in pain and surprise and tried to retreat, but Hohenheim had none of it. The furious Xerxesian was relentless, and there was no doubt he would quickly destroy the small Homunculus.

Father, however, apparently cared about his 'firstborn' no more than a bug that was about to be squashed. "Nothing will stop me. I shall become the perfect being!" he said once again and turned his back to the rest of them. "Farewell, my Sacrifices!"

A terrifyingly powerful blast of light surrounded them. Ed staggered backwards in his lack of balance, too shell-shocked to even scream. For a second, he believed it really was all over.

Then all of a sudden, someone grabbed his collar, preventing him from falling down in the last moment.

"Get it together, dammit!"

Ed jerked in surprise. "Greed!"

He couldn't see, be he could feel Greed dragging him towards the blinding alchemy reaction.

"Hurry up, Ed!" Greed's voice changed into Ling's for a second, then switched back: "Don't let the old man win, runt!"

"But…!" Ed stuttered.

"JUST GO, DAMMIT!" Greed yelled and gave him a final push.

Making a spit-second decision, Ed squeezed his eyes tightly and using both the force of GreedLing's shove and his own automail leg, he leaped... right where Father was standing – the middle of the reaction.

"No!" Pride's shout reached Ed's ears, but if he was protesting against his own demise, or Greed's interference, he wouldn't know.

Ed crashed into something – he would never know what exactly – and then there was nothing.

Just darkness.

* * *

_What…? What happened? Where...?_

Ed blinked, suddenly aware of his thoughts again. He was standing in a familiar void, surrounded by nothing but whiteness.

The realm of Truth.

"What's going on?"

Edward blinked again. He didn't say that. Who said that? The voice didn't sound familiar at all. It sounded strange, slightly high-pitched and Ed couldn't place if it was male or female.

"My body! What…! What happened to my body?!"

Fullmetal looked around, struggling to find the owner of the distressed voice.

"Am I… Was I _rejected_? But it's impossible! I don't understand! Why?! Why, God! Why did you refuse to join me? How did I disappoint you?"

"**You're incapable of believing in yourself.**"

Every muscle in Ed's body froze. He knew _that_ voice. It spoke in his nightmares more times than he could count. There was no way anybody could forget it once they encountered the terrifying Being it belonged to.

Truth.

"But I did it! I absorbed the power of God!" The first voice sounded angry and confused at the same time. "What do you mean by 'incapable of believing in myself'?"

"**You stole your power from others. You rejected your human origins. And you chose to covet the power you call 'God'. You never grew beyond your days in the flask. Did you truly think you'd become superior to humans by removing your seven desires? Don't make me laugh!**"

"What's wrong with that? I only want to obtain perfection! To gather all of the world's knowledge! To experience it! What's should I be punished for that? What's wrong with craving knowledge? What's wrong with seeking perfection?!"

There was a brief silence. Ed was finally realizing who was the owner of the first voice. He swallowed, his throat feeling so dry like he hadn't had a drink in a century.

"Well, speak! What are you, anyway?" The first voice still sounded angry, but a note of fear was creeping into it. "Do you even have a name? Who the hell do you think you are?!"

"**Who am I…?**"

_Oh, great, here it goes…_ Ed thought wearily.

"**One name you may have for me is the world. Or you may call me the universe. Or perhaps God. Or perhaps the Truth. I am all and I am one. So of course, it also means that I am you.**"

"**I'm the truth of your despair, the inescapable price of your boastfulness. And now, I will bestow upon you the despair you deserve.**"

An ominous echo resounded, and Ed knew beyond a doubt that a Gate had been opened. For unknown reasons, just hearing it was a much more horrifying experience than standing in front of one. He looked around once more, but he could see nothing beyond the whiteness.

"You can't do this to me… I can't… I can't go back…!"

Ed shivered at the broken whisper of pure despair.

"Please stop! I can't bear to be bound any longer!"

The voice started begging. Could this get any worse?

"No! _No no no no no no!_"

Ed bit his lip and shut his eyes, trying to force the voice out of his head with all his might, but remained unsuccessful.

"**This despair is reserved for the boastful.**"

"Why?! I just wanted to be free! Free to know! What did I do wrong?"

Ed took a shaky breath and covered his face with his hands. Listening to the wails and screams was far worse than going trough the Gate himself. _Please, make it stop…!_

"**You brought this outcome upon yourself.**"

"Just tell me what I was supposed to do! What should I have done?!"

The last scream hung in the air for a long moment, before it was cut off with another echo.

The Gate closed. Finally. He released the breath he'd been holding in relief.

"**We**** meet yet again, Mister Alchemist.**"

Ed jumped, startled, looking at the faceless Figure suddenly standing in front of him. He glanced behind his shoulder and was barely surprise to notice that his Gate was there as well.

Slowly, the alchemist turned to the Being.

"What happened to... him?" he asked.

"**Do you really wish to know?**"

"...No, I'd rather not." Ed admitted and shuddered. Then he realized something.

"It's… so strange," he spoke, more to himself than Truth. "I mean... he's evil, right? He deserves any hell you can give him." His memory rushed back, causing a terrible ache in his chest. "He just killed everyone in Amestris. He... he killed Winry. Granny." He closed his eyes to prevent the sudden wetness behind his eyelids to spill. "Al." He still couldn't believe this. Even though he'd seen Alphonse's blood seal being cut through with his own eyes. "He's supposed to be a soulless abomination. He's caused so much pain, all for selfish hunger for power… and yet…"

And yet he couldn't forget everything that had happened. He remembered the story Hohenheim had told him about his friendship with the Dwarf in the Flask. He remembered how Gluttony mourned Lust's death. He remember how Envy committed suicide over being jealous of humans. He remembered how Greed helped him in the last moment.

He remembered the scream of the Homunculus when he was being dragged into the Gate.

_I just wanted to be free! Free to know!_

Ed couldn't lie to himself. Not in front of Truth. A dark, humorless chuckle came from his mouth.

"...I can't help but pity him. Ridiculous, right? I'm such an idiot…" He smiled mirthlessly. "I guess it's because I am just human."

Truth said nothing. There wasn't even a grin of Its face. It was utterly blank.

"So what now?" Ed asked after a beat. Then he became defensive on instinct. "I-I didn't come back here again on purpose! I didn't ask for this!"

_Mustang didn't ask for this either_, his mind whispered. Ed gritted his teeth. One instinct screamed at him to get away, to step back, but he knew that by doing that he would get closer to the Gate. _No thank you._

The other instinct prompted him to punch Truth with his automail fits – screw the consequences of assaulting God! This bastard had no right to take the Colonel's sight. That just wasn't right, it wasn't fair. It wasn't Equivalent Exchange at all.

"**Calm down, Mister Alchemist.****" **Truth spoke before Ed could make any rash decision.** "****Your passage fee has been paid. Your existences, all of them, has been assured no matter what your choice shall be.**"

Ed blinked in pure confusion, forgetting his anger for the moment.

"...What do you mean?"

"**The Dwarf in the flask attempted to go back to the Beginning of Time, to replace God with himself, in order to ****become all-powerful****. In his arrogance, he created the abomination known to you as the Philosopher Stone, using every human soul in your country. Because of him, the Amestrian people are gone forever. Now, you must choose.**"

"Choose what?"

"**No one can reach the Beginning,****" ****Truth explained patiently. "****Only a fool would try to alter the very foundation of the Universe. However, the Dwarf in the Flask gathered enough energy to break through the fabric of time**."

It took Ed a moment to process all of this.

"Time… travel? Are you serious?"

"**I am Truth, Mister Alchemist.**" The all-too-familiar grin appeared on Truth's face. "**You may go back, or you may go forward. What will you do?"**

"Back or forward…?" Ed wasn't sure _what_ to think, but he knew he _didn't_ like this. At all. He had never considered time-travel to be possible before. He never thought of what he would do if he got a crazy choice like that. "Can't I just go back to my present?" he asked hesitantly.

"**If you wish. You remember what awaits you there.**"

Memory washed through him and Ed felt week in his knees. Amestris… fifty million lives… Al… all gone. _Forever_. Unless...

"Is it… Isn't it still possible to return the souls back to their bodies?" Ed asked desperately.

"**The toll has already been paid,**" Truth responded. "**So no, it is not possible.**"

"But you just said the Homunculus broke through the fabric of time!" Ed protested furiously. "If he could do _that_, surely you can reverse this, can't you?! You're _Truth_ for God's sake!"

There was only silence. Ed began to think hard. He couldn't let Amestris fall. He had to do… _something…_ There's got to be something!

Then, the perfect solution came to his mind. It was so obvious he actually started wondering if it could really be so simple. If there wouldn't be a catch to it.

"You mean, I can go back in time? Just like that? No additional payment, no more toll?"

"**Yes.**"

"And it wouldn't be different from what I remember it? Like, in the past… The people would still be alive, right?"

"**Yes.**"

"Alright then." Ed took a deep breath. He had no idea just how far he needed to go back – he had to word his wish carefully, he couldn't afford a mistake. Not now. Finally, he said: "I want to stop the Homunculus. I need to go back to a place and time when he can be still defeated, before he executes his plan and kills everyone. Got it?"

The grin of Truth's face became unbelievably wide.

"**Very well, Mister Alchemist,**" The Gate slowly opened. "**Keep this in mind: you need to head East to do what you intend. And remember that every action you will perform shall have a consequence.**"

Silky black hands wrapped around Ed's arms and ankles. He allowed himself to be dragged backwards, but before the Gate could take him, he called out:

"Truth! Just to make things clear. If time-travel is possible, does it really mean the past can be changed?"

"**You shall find out on your own.**"

Ed groaned in frustration. "At least tell me where _exactly_ I'm supposed to go!"

"**Do not waste this chance, Edward Elric, for this is your only one,**" Truth warned for the last time.

_I really hope I'm not going to regret this…_ was the Fullmetal Alchemist's last thought before the Gate closed.

* * *

Ed awoke catching a startled breath, feeling as if he just resurfaced from a deep lake. It took him a while to remember everything that happened previously.

_That's right… the Gate… time-travel… I still can't believe time-travel exists. Where am I? Or the better question is: **when** am I?_

With a tired groan, he sat up and opened his eyes.

Green. That was the first thing he saw. After a second of staring at the blurred object in front of him, he realized there was a bunch of leaves inches away from his face. Quick look around told him he was being surrounded by scratchy branches.

_I'm... in a bush. Geez, thanks, Truth. Of all possible places, you dump me inside a **bush**. Well, at least it's not a rose bush…_

The alchemist clapped quickly and transmuted his automail into a blade. With a few good slashes, he created a path and crawled out.

_Okay, let's see… It looks like I'm in a forest, __somewhere__. _Ed sighed. _Wonderful. __I better find out which way is East. That's the only clue that bastard bothered to give me._

Finding the right direction was simple enough. At least all the survival training from Teacher was finally paying off. As Edward strutted East, he question **when** he currently was continued to plague his mind. Could this really be the past? But everything looked so... normal. It might have been unreasonable, but he would have expected being in the past to somehow feel different; his vision appearing more grayish or brownish, like those old photographs from nineteenth century. Then again, he didn't know how far in the past he had been sent. It could be days. It could be months. A couple of years, maybe. How much time in advance he'd need to warn the others about Father's ultimate goal? Convincing others about him being from the future shouldn't be too hard, if he managed to find his past self, Ed reasoned. It'd be super weird, meeting himself, but after the initial shock being over, everything else should go smoothly. Hopefully. As long as they don't accuse him being Envy trying to trick them… But Ed didn't doubt he would find a way to prove his identity, once they give him a chance.

Would the others had already met Envy, anyway? What year was this? Had he and Al discovered the truth about the Philosopher Stone yet? Had Ed joined the military already? Was Mustang Colonel or Lieutenant Colonel, or maybe even Major? Had the Ishvalan happened yet or not?

Those questions spurred another, more of personal nature than worry over the fate of Amestris. Were Winry's parents still alive? Was is possible to save them, if they were? And not just them – there were so many tragedies that could have been prevented, Ed didn't know where to start. Could he save Nina from being turned into a Chimera? Could he change the horrible events that had lead Scar to becoming a murderer? Could he stop Mustang and Hawkeye from becoming involved in the war and killing all those innocent Ishvalans? And what about his past self and Al? How old where they now? Have they committed the taboo yet? What if…

_...What if mom is still alive?_

Ed stopped abruptly, blood draining away from his face.

Never, ever since Human Transmutation, had he allowed himself to hope like this. After their failure, Ed accepted the fact that dead people remain dead. He wouldn't say that he came to terms with her death completely, but he accepted it nevertheless. And when he dug up that _thing_ he and Al made, it became clear that bringing people back to life was just impossible. Once gone, a person couldn't come back. They just couldn't.

Except, if this was truly the past… then she really _could_ be alive. Ed's heart started beating faster at the thought. What if… what if she could have been saved? If she wasn't sick yet? Could he really change the fate of his whole family?

_...R__emember, every a__ctio__n you will perform shall have a consequence._

Ed gulped. Of course... Consequences. No matter how tempting this idea was, he couldn't make such decision before thinking everything through.

_If mom didn't die, we wouldn't have performed that transmutation. If Al didn't lose his body, I wouldn't have became a State Alchemist. If I didn't become a State Alchemist…_

...Well, that would change history _a lot_.

_S__l__ow__ down, __Edward Elric__,_ he ordered himself and forced his body to move forward. _You don't even know if she's alive, no point in mulling this over yet. You need to focus on finding out _**_when_**_ and **where** you are, then worry about what you're going to do._

It was easier to just let it go for now. He didn't want to – couldn't – think about this now. He decided to focus on his surroundings instead.

The had terrain changed, and Ed noticed he was going uphill. It was a warm day. He couldn't see the sun very well, obscured by a thick layer of branches, but if he was to judge the time by the lighting, it was about noon. The air had a note of freshness that told him it was still spring. The ground was a bit wet, so it must have been raining earlier today or yesterday.

Finally, the trees began to clear. After almost an hour of walking around, he was on the top of the hill, the glade allowing him to look around.

There was something… familiar about the landscape, although he couldn't put a finger on it. There was nothing but trees as far as he could see. Something in the back of his head whispered that something was missing – something big. However no matter how hard he tried, Ed just couldn't remember.

Eventually something caught his eye, a couple of miles in distance: a glimpse of a twisted brown serpent.

"A route," Ed whispered. Thank goodness, a sign of civilization. He wasn't completely lost then. He'd been beginning to fear Truth had dumped him in some random wilderness on the other side of the planet. Not only a route meant an easy way to a city, it was a West-to-East road too.

Perfect.

He traveled down the hill, trying to find the easiest course as he maneuvered through the woods. He'll probably need to stop soon and find something to eat, he thought. Or drink. He was an alchemist though, it wouldn't be a problem to transmute water from some plants. Food was a bigger problem. He could make traps, but that method required patience and waiting and Ed had to move forward. He didn't know how much time he'd been given to change the outcome of the Promised Day, but knowing that bastard Truth it probably wasn't much.

Ed set his jaw in determination and started running.

He reached the route faster than he'd expected. It was a bit of a disappointment though. It must have been only visible from that far-away hill because the rain made the dirt appear darker, easier to spot in an ocean of green. It could barely be considered a route, really. It was more of a forest lane, two parallel imprints suggesting it was used by animal-driven wagons and not pedestrians.

If he was lucky, maybe he could hitchhike.

As if in respond to his thoughts, the sound of hooves hitting dirt reached his ears from the distance. Ed swiftly turned, squinting.

In a matter of minutes, a wagon appeared, pulled by two chestnut horses. It was a small wagon, not much taller than Ed himself (which meant nothing, because **he was not short!**), occupied by two people; a wrinkled old man with barely any hair left, and just-as-old woman whose hair was covered by a shawl.

"Hey!" Ed called out and waved. "Hey!"

The wagon stopped, and the couple stared at him with surprise and suspicion.

"Would you guys mind giving me a lift?" Ed asked as politely as he could. He grinned sheepishly. "I'm kind of lost."

The man blinked at him and turned to the woman next to him (probably his wife):

"_Co ten dzieciak __tam mamrocze__? Pierwszy raz w __życiu_ _słyszę __taki bełkot__._"

Ed's eyes widened. What language was _that_?

The woman shrugged. "_Nie mam zielonego poj__ęcia. Aczkolwiek, trudno się dziwić że go nie rozumiesz. Do ciebie nigdy nie dociera co się do ciebie mówi._"

The man looked at her indignantly. "_Że co?!_"

"_No w__ła__ś__nie."_ She rolled her eyes. "_Widzisz?_"

The old man leaned towards the woman's face and snarled. "_S__łowo daj__ę, __kobieto, pewnego dnia udusz__ę __c__ię __w__łasnymi r__ę__koma._"

"_A spr__ó__buj!_" She responded just as angrily. "_I wtedy b__ę__dziesz sam sobie gotował! I pranie robił! I palenisko rozpalał! I __s__woje zwiotczałe mi__ęś__nie masował!_"

"Z_wiotczałe mi__ęś__nie?!_"

"_A jak__ż__e__!_"

Ed looked between them helplessly as they continued to yell at each other, totally ignoring him. Eventually, he coughed, trying to get back their attention. "Uh… Excuse me?"

They turned to him simultaneously, like they just remembered his existence.

"_Czego chesz, bachorze?_" the man said rudely, eyeing Edward distrustfully.

Ed wasn't an idiot. While a language was a serious problem in proper communication, it didn't make it impossible. He refused to give up on a free ride just because he couldn't understand a word those people were saying.

"I." He pointed at himself firmly. "Need. A ride." He pointed at the wagon, then the road ahead and back at himself. Then, swallowing his pride, he bowed his head and asked humbly: "Please?"

The couple exchanged uncertain looks.

"_Jak my__ś__lisz, o__ co mu chodzi?" _The man sounded like he didn't know what to think.

"_Wydaje mi __się..._" The woman spoke slowly. "_...__że __ten ch__ł__opiec prosi __ż__eby__ś__my go podwieźli._"

The man blinked, then suddenly grinned. "_Nic za darmo, ma__ł__y._" He reached out an open hand to Ed, greed visible in his expression. "_Jak c__hcesz jecha__ć, __to_ _do r__ę__ki__ p__ł__a__ć__._"

Ed scowled. Typical. So much for human kindness. He started to search through his pockets, then stopped when he realized something.

He only had Amestrian money. Those people didn't sound Amestrian. Not only that, some of the bills could have the date of nineteen-fifteen printed on them. What if that wasn't the current year? He doubted the old man would overlook such a thing, he appeared to be the type who paid more attention to money than anything else.

He sighed. There wasn't much of a choice – besides, with the fate of Amestris at stake, State Alchemist protocol was the last thing on his mind. There was no time to loose, so he just had to get on with it.

Ed picked a random pebble from the ground and turned around. He heard the old man say something to him, but he didn't care. With a quick clap, he transmuted the pebble into a big, gold coin.

_In every country, gold should be worth something_, he hoped.

When the flash of the transmutation faded, he turned back to the man and put the coin into his open hand.

"There," he crossed his arms. "Is this good enough?"

The couple stared at him with dropped jaws. For a long moment, neither of them even twitched.

Ed swallowed nervously. Perhaps, in retrospective, he shouldn't have done that. Not everyone knew that alchemist could transmute gold. Maybe those people had never heard about it. What if they didn't know how to keep quiet? He couldn't exactly ask them to – not with the language barrier present.

This wasn't good.

_One thing's certain. As an amateur time-traveler, I _**_suck_**_ at keeping low profile._

Ed tensed, waiting for something to happen.

"_O. Moi. Bogowie._" The woman's voice was hoarse from shock.

The coin fell from the old man's shaking hand.

* * *

****Author's Note:****

**"**You've tried to stand in my way one too many times, ********[insert Hero's name]********!"****

****I know, I know, it's such a cliché line… but I couldn't help myself xD****

****So, I hope the Flashback didn't disappoint. ********I know there isn't much focus on Al's death – ******_**yet**_******.****

****As you can clearly see, I've been trying to stick to the canon ********as closely as possible… if you're reading my "Harry Potter and the Alchemist Brothers" story, you must know how ********obsessed******** I ********am with******** logic and things making ******_**sense**_******. I knew I had to make a believable backstory for the time-travel thing, ********and I had it prepared ever since chapter 2********.****

****However I must confess, the idea of Father's alternat********ive******** plan isn't entirely original. I was inspired by episode "The Once and Future Thing" from "Justice League Unlimited". I'm not really a huge superhero fan, but I liked that particular episode. ********In short, a time-traveling villain named Chronos (reference to Greek mythology) st********eals******** something from the superhero team and Batman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman beg********i********n to chase him through different eras. In the end, Chronos attempt********s******** to escape them by ********reaching for******** the beginning of time.****

**_**Green Lantern:**_****** "The Green Lanterns have a legend – no one can see the beginning of time. It's a universal law!"****

**_**Batman:**_****** (sarcastic) "Write him a ticket!"****

****I thought it was a very intriguing idea, I couldn't forget it ever since. That sounds totally like something Father would do, I thought.****

****To clarify ********here********: Father's plan was ********solid********, but he miscalculated. He assumed that after obtaining 'the power of God' and possessing 50 million souls would be enough as payment for going back in time. In a way he was right, but replacing God with himself ********is just impossible – as knowledgable as he was, Dwarf in the Flask wasn't all-powerful********. If such ********conceited ********action doesn't guarantee a fast trip to Hell, I don't know what does.****

****Also – the only reason why Hohenheim's Counteroffensive didn't work is because there was no time for it to fully activate. Father used up his entire Philosopher Stone before it could be ripped away from him.****

****By the way, in spite of what you may think, novelizing the big part of th********is******** episode was ******_**not**_****** simple. ********I mixed the English dub with Japanese subtitles and altered some of the dialogue, but I tried to be as faithful to the source material as possible.******** It was exhausting, ********a part of reason why it took me so long********. Please don't say I took the easy way out ********with that********, because ********it********'s not true.****

****Has anyone recognized the language I used to replace Xerxesian dialogue? If not, write your guesses. I wanted to use Persian at first, but it was a bit challenging, so I used something different, a language not many people know about. How many languages I speak, you ask? (smirks) Not. Telling! ;P****

****I hope you guys enjoyed it, thank you for reading! Please review, follow and favorite, but most importantly: read on and enjoy! ;)****


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